WLF 


Stl 


'-...  ; 


HISTORY 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN  REVOLUTION, 

fc 

FIRST  PUBLISHED  IN  LONDON    UNDER    THE    SUPERINTENDENCE 

OF  THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  DIFFUSION  OF  USEFUL 

KNOWLEDGE. 

IMPROVED  WITH 

MAPS  AND  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ALSO 

REVISED  AND  ENLARGED, 


BY  REV.  J.  L.  JJLAKE,  D.  D. 

AUTHOR    OF    «  SKETCHES    OF    AMERICAN   HISTORY." 


NEW   Y  O,R,K;,  .  ..       ,    ,  \ 
PUBLISHED  BY  ALEXANDER  V.  BLAKE, 

No.  77  FULTON-STREET. 

18H 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  -  the  year  1843; 

BY  ALEXANDER  V.  BLAKE, 

fn  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


:      "  "'   '      '        '   ' 


c'i  New  York 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


It  is  stated,  on  the  title  page,  that  this  work  was  first 
published  in  London  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge.  Such 
is  its  character  for  impartiality  and  accuracy  and 
correct  diction,  th  it  several  editions  of  it  have  been 
published  in  this  country  without  alteration.  In  the 
present  edition,  where  more  minute  details  were  judged 
desirable,  additions  have  been  made  which  amount  to 
about  one  fifth  of  the  whole  volume.  These  additions 
are  partly  incorporated  into  the  text,  and  are  partly  in 
the  form  of  notes.  The  pictorial  illustrations  will  also 
be  esteemed  a  great  improvement,  whether  it  is  to  be 
used  as  a  class-book  for  study  in  schools,  or  as  a  read 
ing  book  in  families.  The  distinctive  merits  of  the 
original  work  were  presented,  in  the  first  American 
edition,  published  at  Boston,  1832,  under  the  following 
classification. 

First — It  is  the  most  brief,  concise,  and  distinct  nar 
rative  of  the  principal  events  of  the  American  Revolu 
tion,  known  to  exist. 

Second — It  possesses  an  uninterrupted  continuity  of 
interest  from  the  first  to  the  last,  without  embellishment 
and  with  no  other  alteration  than  a  plain  recital  of  his 
torical  facts. 

Third — It  communicates  facts  in  which  persons  of 

&•<!! !71 


IV  ADVERTISEMENT. 

all  ages  have  an  interest,  in  a  style  simple  enough  to 
satisfy  the  young,  and  substantial  enough  to  gratify  the 
mature  and  cultivated. 

Fourth — The  facts  are  collected  and  published  under 
the  sanction  of  a  society  composed  of  men  most  emi 
nent  for  their  learning  and  station  among  every  class 
of  the  citizens  of  Great  Britain,  of  whom  Mr.  Brougham, 
the  Lord  Chancellor,  was  chairman,  and  therefore  to 
them  no  undue  partiality  for  the  cause  of  this  country 
during  the  struggle  for  independence  can  be  imputed. 

Fifth — Although  the  occasion  was  one  of  the  most 
justifiable  for  war  that  ever  has  or  can  arise,  and  the 
contest  was  continued  by  high  and  honorable  minds 
under  the  severest  trials  of  disappointment,  self-denial, 
and  suffering,  (the  surest  tests  of  principle,)  still  the 
detail  of  devastation,  murder,  and  personal  revenge  is 
sufficiently  conspicuous  throughout  the  whole,  to  give 
the  contest  the  peculiar  malignity  of  a  civil  war,  and  to 
make  the  young  and  the  reflecting  mir?£  shudder  even 
at  what  may  be  termed  a  glorious  w&r. 

NEW  YORK,  October,  1843, 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Settlement  of  British  America.             .        .        .  7 

War  of  Seventeen  Hundred  and  Fifty-six.       -  14 
Resolution  of  the  House  of  Commons,  10th  of 

March,  1764 19 

Stamp-act,  March  22d,  1765 23 

Repeal  of  the  Stamp-act,  10th  of  March,  1766.  29 

New  Attempt  at  Taxation 29 

Petition  and  Remonstrance,  1773.        ...  45 
Boston  Port-act,  and  Repeal  of  the  Charter  of 

Massachusetts 55 

Removal  of  the  Seat  of  Government  from  Boston.  68 
First  Acts  of  the  Assembly  at  Concord.  71 
Opening  of  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  76 
Address  of  the  House  of  Commons,  9th  Feb.  1775.  80 
Affair  at  Lexington,  19th  of  April,  1775.  92 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  16th  of  June,  1775.           -  96 
Union  of  the  Thirteen  Provinces.     Hancock  ap 
pointed   President,   and   Washington   Com 
mander-in-chief.       .....  101 

Invasion  of  Canada.     Death  of  Montgomery.     -  105 

Evacuation  of  Boston,  March  17th,  1776.         -  108 

Declaration  of  Independence,  4th  of  July,  1776.  116 

-Capture  of  Long  Island,  26th  of  August,  1776.  128 
1* 


Vl  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Evacuation  of  New  York,  1st  of  September,  1776.  132 

Battle  of  Trenton,  28th  of  December,  1776.     -  135 

Capture  of  Philadelphia,  26th  of  September,  1776.  142 

Burgoyne's  Expedition.  ....  146 

Failure  of  Burgoyne.          .....  153 

Convention  of  Saratoga,  13th  of  October,  1777.  161 

Treaty  with  France,  6th  of  February,  1778.  -  164 

Rejection  of  Lord  North's  Overtures,  June,  1778.  169 

Arrival  of  the  French  Fleet 180 

Campaign  of  1779 184 

Siege  and  Capture  of  Charleston,  May  12,  1780.  193 

Defeat  of  Gates  by  Cornwallis,  15th  of  Aug.  1780.  198 

Arrival  of  the  French  under  Rochambeau.  -  208 

Treason  of  Arnold,  and  Death  of  Andre.  -  212 
Campaign  of  1781.  Defeat  of  Greene  by  Lord 

Cornwallis 221 

Campaign  of  1781  continued.  Defeat  of  Lord 

Rawdon  by  General  Greene.  -  228 
Further  Events  of  the  Campaign.  Preparations 

for  the  Siege  of  New  York.  235 

Siege  of  Yorktown.  Surrender  of  Cornwallis.  -  241 

Provisional  Treaty  of  Peace.  -  245 

Conclusion.  ...  ...  249 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


SECTION  I. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  BRITISH  AMERICA. 

THE  discovery  of  the  western  hemisphere, 
effected  by  the  bold  and  persevering  genius 
of  Christopher  Columbus,  in  the  year  1492, 
gave  a  new  impulse  to  European  activity  ; 
and  the  splendid  conquests  of  the  Spaniards 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  South  America, 
excited  the  emulation  of  the  other  maritime 
powers  of  Christendom.  Our  ancestors  were 
not  dilatory  in  their  endeavors  to  enter  upon 
this  new  path  to  glory  and  wealth ;  for  we 
find  that,  in  the  year  1498,  John  Cabot,  by 
virtue  of  a  commission  from  Henry  VII.,  took 
formal  possession,  in  the  name  of  that  mon 
arch,  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  conti 
nent  of  North  America. 

No  attempt,  however,  was  made  to  estab 
lish  a  colony  in  that  country  till  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  when  Sir  Humphrey  Gil 
bert  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  in  the  years 
1573  and  1584,  formed  settlements  there, 


S  A^ERIC'AN'  REVOLUTION. 

which  were  soon  wasted  by  famine,  by  dis 
ease,  and  by  the  arrows  of  the  natives,  who, 
as  heathens,  were  counted  as  nothing  in  the 
royal  grants  under  which  the  adventurers 
acted.  The  first  permanent  British  settlement 
was  established  in  the  reign  of  King  James 
L,  under  whose  auspices  a  company  of  adven 
turers  built  Jamestown,  on  the  northern  side 
of  James  river.  This  colony,  however,  con 
tinued  for  a  long  time  in  a  feeble  state.  It 
was  founded  A.  D.  1607;  and,  though  it  re 
ceived  continual  accessions  of  new  settlers,  its 
population,  in  the  year  1670,  amounted  to  no 
more  than  40,000  souls. 

The  Virginian  colonists  were  prompted  to 
quit  their  native  country  by  the  hope  of  bet 
tering  their  temporal  condition.  A  higher 
motive  gave  rise  to  the  colonization  of  the 
northern  portion  of  the  new  continent.  After 
the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  Puritans  had  suffered 
grievous  persecution ;  to  escape  from  which 
a  small  body  of  them  had  fled,  in  the  year 
1606,  into  Holland.  Unwilling,  however,  en 
tirely  to  sever  themselves  from  the  land  which 
gave  them  birth,  they  applied  to  their  sover 
eign,  King  James,  beseeching  him  to  permit 
them  to  establish  themselves  in  his  North 
American  dominions,  in  the  full  exercise  of 
liberty  in  religious  matters. 

With  this  their  request,  in  its  full  extent, 
James  refused  to  comply.  All  that  they  could 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION". 


9 


obtain  from  him  was  a  promise  that  he  would 
connive  at  their  infringements  of  the  statutes, 
the  operation  of  which  had  driven  them  into 
voluntary  exile.  On  the  faith  of  the  royal 
word  to  this  effect,  they  embarked,  to  the 
number  of  101,  in  the  month  of  September, 
1620,  and  arriving  at  Cape  Cod  in  the  follow 
ing  November,  soon  afterwards  fixed  them 
selves  in  a  place  of  settlement  which  they 
called  New  Plymouth,  and  which,  it  must  be 
observed  to  their  honor,  they  purchased  from 
the  natives. 


Landing  of  the  Fathers. 

The  whole  number  of  emigrants  was  101, 
viz. :  41  men,  18  women,  and  the  rest  were 


10  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

children  and  servants,  of  whom  40  died  with 
in  three  months  from  the  day  of  their  landing. 

Dreadful  were  the  difficulties  with  which 
this  handful  of  religionists  had  to  struggle  ; 
landing  as  they  did  in  the  depth  of  winter, 
and  exposed  as  they  were,  notwithstanding 
their  conciliatory  disposition,  to  the  hostility 
of  the  natives.  But,  supported  by  the  princi 
ples  of  piety,  and  determined  at  any  price  to 
purchase  religious  freedom,  they  maintained 
their  ground ;  and  being  from  time  to  time 
recruited  by  new  migrations  of  their  persecu 
ted  brethren,  they,  by  degrees,  spread  them 
selves  over  the  province  of  Massachusetts. 

It  too  often  happens  that  religion  produces 
dissension,  and  that  those  who  have  suffered 
persecution,  when  they  have  obtained  power, 
become  persecutors  themselves.  This  was 
the  case  with  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts.  Falling  into  the 
•common  error  of  the  times,  in  thinking  that 
uniformity  of  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  re 
ligious  doctrines  was  required  by  the  truth  of 
the  gospel,  and  by  a  regard  to  the  peace  and 
welfare  of  society,  they  established  it  as  a 
rule  of  government,  "  that  no  man  should  be 
admitted  to  the  freedom  of  their  body  politic, 
but  such  as  were  members  of  some  of  their 
churches  ;"  and  they  afterwards  passed  a 
resolution,  "  that  none  but  such  should  share 
in  the  administration  of  civil  government,  or 
.have  a  voice  in  any  election." 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  II 

Tn  this  instance,  however,  as  in  many  oth 
ers,  evil  was  productive  of  good.  The  dis 
contented  sectarians  sought  other  settlements, 
and  founded  the  colonies  of  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire. 

While  the  once  persecuted  Protestants  thus 
gave  a  sad  proof  that  their  sufferings  had  not 
taught  them  mercy,  it  was  reserved  for  a 
Roman  Catholic  nobleman  to  give  to  the  new 
world  a  striking  example  of  this  happy  docili 
ty.  In  the  year  1632,  Lord  Baltimore  obtain 
ed  a  charter  for  a  new  colony,  the  first  settlers 
of  which  consisted  chiefly  of  Roman  Catholic 
gentlemen  ;  and,  having  established  his  band 
of  emigrants  in  Maryland,  he  so  exerted  his 
influence  with  the  members  of  the  assembly 
of  the  new  province,  that  they  laid  it  down 
as  a  fundamental  principle  of  their  constitu 
tion,  "  that  no  persons  professing  to  believe  in 
Christ  Jesus  should  be  molested  in  respect  of 
their  religion,  or  in  the  free  exercise  thereof.'* 
His  lordship's  enlightened  policy  was  eminent 
ly  successful.  Under  the  nurture  of  religious 
liberty,  his  infant  settlement  soon  advanced 
rapidly  towards  maturity. 

In  the  reign  of  Charles  II. ,  royal  charters 
of  the  most  liberal  tenor  were  granted  to  Con 
necticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  Providence  Plan 
tations  ;  and  patents  were  also  granted  to 
Lord  Clarendon  and  the  Duke  of  York,  be 
stowing  on  the  former  a  right  to  form  planta 
tions  in  the  district  now  comprehending  North 


12  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  dele 
gating  to  the  latter  the  same  right  as  respect 
ing  New  York  and  New  Jersey ;  and  finally, 
a  patent  was  issued,  authorizing  the  celebra 
ted  William  Penn  to  colonize  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware. 

The  English  emigrants  who  settled  in  North 
America  were  a  class  of  people  very  different 
from  the  Spaniards,  who  subdued  the  southern 
continent.  They  did  not  leave  their  native 
shores  for  the  purpose  of  invading  and  plun 
dering  rich  provinces  and  wealthy  cities  ;  but 
they  sought  prosperity  by  the  painful  arts  of 
industry  and  economy.  Purchasing  land  from 
the  aborigines,  they  at  first  devoted  themselves 
to  the  culture  of  the  soil ;  and  in  process  of 
time,  those  who  continued  to  reside  on  the 
sea-shore,  or  on  the  banks  of  navigable  rivers, 
addicted  themselves  to  commerce.  Their  suc 
cess  in  this  pursuit  is  evinced  by  the  fact,  that 
though  in  the  year  1704  the  imports  of  the 
province  of  Pennsylvania  amounted  only  to 
£11,499  sterling,  in  1772  they  were  increased 
to  the  value  of  £507,909,  and  in  the  same  year 
the  whole  of  the  exports  from  Great  Brit 
ain  to  her  North  American  colonies  amount 
ed  to  upwards  of  £6,000,000  sterling. 

Though  each  colony  had  its  separate  consti 
tution,  the  principles  of  freedom  pervaded 
them  all.  In  some  provinces  the  governors 
and  the  magistrates  were  elected  by  the  peo 
ple  ;  and  in  those,  the  governors  and  chief 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  1$ 

officers  of  which  were  appointed  by  the 
crown,  the  power  of  these  functionaries  was 
controlled  by  assemblies,  the  members  of 
which  were  chosen  by  the  freeholders,  who 
were  too  numerous  to  be  bribed,  and  too  in 
dependent  in  their  circumstances  to  be  swayed 
by  influence.  Throughout  the  whole  of  the 
Union  there  was  not  found  a  single  proprietor 
of  a  borough,  nor  an  interest  to  nurture  the 
principles  of  bigotry  and  passive  obedience. 

When  the  first  settlers  took  possession  of  the 
country,  they  brought  with  them  all  the  rights 
of  Englishmen,  and  those  rights  they  were 
jealous  in  maintaining.  Their  interior  con 
cerns  were  regulated  by  their  representatives 
in  assembly  ;  but  in  consideration  of  their 
origin,  and  of  the  protection  against  foreign 
enemies,  which  they  received  from  the  mother 
country,  they  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  ob 
ligation  of  exclusively  trading  with  her,  and 
of  being  bound  by  all  the  laws  touching  com 
merce,  which  might  be  passed  by  the  British 
parliament.  The  limits  of  the  authority  of 
parliament  they  were  not  critical  in  canvass 
ing,  with  one  exception — namely,  claiming  to 
be  independent  of  that  body  in  the  matter  of 
internal  taxation.  They  maintained,  con 
formably  to  one  of  the  most  established 
principles  of  the  British  constitution,  that  an 
assembly  in  which  they  were  not  repre 
sented  had  no  right  to  burden  them  with  im 
posts. 

2 


14  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  leading  element  in  the  early  colonial 
character,  and  perhaps  the  strongest  in  giving 
it  its  peculiar  cast  of  austerity  and  elevation, 
was  religious  enthusiasm.  Many  believed 
themselves  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
heaven.  The  stern  traits  of  the  English 
Puritans,  so  remarkable  in  the  civil  wars  of 
the  first  Charles,  and  under  the  common 
wealth,  were  strong  in  the  pilgrims  of  Ply 
mouth  Rock.  These  traits  of  character,  in 
their  descendants,  under  the  benign  influence 
of  a  better  knowledge  and  wider  freedom,  are 
much  softened,  but  still  exist ;  and,  under  cir 
cumstances  favorable  to  their  development, 
stand  forth  in  great  prominence. 


SECTION  II. 

WAR  OF  SEVENTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-SIX. 

The  growing  power  of  the  British  colonies 
in  America  was  strikingly  evinced  in  the  year 
1745,  when  a  force  of  5,000  men,  raised  and 
equipped  by  the  single  state  of  Massachu 
setts,  and  acting  in  concert  with  a  British 
armament  from  the  West  Indies,  took  Louis- 
bourg  from  the  French.  The  success  of  this 
expedition  so  much  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  government  of  France,  that,  after  the 
termination  of  the  war  in  which  Louisbourg 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  15 

was  taken,  they  dispossessed  the  Ohio  Com 
pany  of  the  settlements  which  it  had  formed 
on  the  river  of  that  name,  alleging  that  the 
territory  in  question  was  part  of  the  domin 
ions  of  his  Most  Christian  Majesty. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  George  Wash 
ington,  then  a  major  in  the  Virginian  militia, 
first  drew  his  sword  in  hostility.  At  the 
head  of  three  hundred  men  he  defeated  a 
party  of  French ;  but  being  afterwards  at 
tacked  by  a  superior  force,  he  was  obliged 
to  surrender,  receiving,  however,  honorable 
terms  of  capitulation. 

A  war  with  France  now  seeming  inevita 
ble,  a  general  meeting  of  the  governors  and 
leading  members  of  the  provincial  assemblies 
was  held  at  Albany,  in  the  state  of  New 
York.  This  meeting  proposed,  as  the  result 
of  its  deliberations,  "that  a  grand  council 
should  be  formed,  of  members  to  be  chosen 
by  the  provincial  assemblies  ;  which  council, 
together  with  a  governor  to  be  appointed  by 
the  crown,  should  be  authorized  to  make  gen 
eral  laws,  and  also  to  raise  money  from  all 
the  colonies,  for  their  common  defence. 

The  British  government  seem  to  have  view 
ed  this  proposal  with  jealousy,  as  a  step 
towards  independence.  They  disapproved  of 
the  projected  mode  of  the  election  of  the 
members  of  the  council ;  nor  were  they  sat 
isfied  with  the  plan  of  raising  the  requisite 
supplies  by  acts  of  the  colonial  legislatures : 


16  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

and  they  proposed  that  "  the  governors  of  all 
the  colonies,  attended  by  one  or  two  members 
of  their  respective  councils,  should,  from  time 
to  time,  concert  measures  for  the  whole  colo 
nies  ;  erect  forts  and  raise  troops,  with  a  pow 
er  to  draw  upon  the  British  treasury  in  the 
first  instance  ;  but  to  be  ultimately  reimbursed 
by  a  tax  to  be  laid  on  the  colonies  by  act  of 
parliament." 

This  counter  proposal  was  strenuously  op 
posed  by  the  colonists,  who  refused  to  trust 
their  interests  to  governors  and  members  of 
councils,  since'  almost  the  whole  of  the  former, 
and  the  great  majority  of  the  latter,  were 
nominated  by  the  crown.  As  to  the  plan  of 
raising  taxes  in  the  colonies  by  the  authority 
of  the  British  parliament,  they  rejected  it  in 
the  most  peremptory  manner.  In  the  discus 
sions  which  took  place  on  this  occasion,  Dr. 
Franklin  took  an  active  part,  and  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Shirley,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  as 
Dr.  Ramsay  observes,  "  he  anticipated  the 
substance  of  a  controversy  which  for  twenty 
years  employed  the  pens,  tongues,  and  swords 
of  both  countries." 

In  his  correspondence  with  the  governor, 
the  American  patriot  intimated  his  apprehen 
sion,  that  excluding  the  people  from  all  share 
in  the  choice  of  the  grand  council,  would  give 
extreme  dissatisfaction,  as  well  as  the  taxing 
them  by  act  of  parliament,  where  they  have 
no  representation.  "  It  is,"  observes  he,  with 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  17 

equal  candor  and  good  sense — "it  is  very 
possible  that  this  general  government  might 
be  as  well  and  faithfully  administered  with 
out  the  people  as  with  them ;  but  where 
heavy  burdens  are  to  be  laid  upon  them,  it 
has  been  found  useful  to  make  it,  as  much  as 
possible,  their  own  act ;  for  they  bear  better, 
when  they  have,  or  think  they  have,  some 
share  in  the  direction  ;  and  when  any  public 
measures  are  generally  grievous,  or  even  dis 
tasteful  to  the  people,  the  wheels  of  govern 
ment  move  more  heavily." 

On  the  subject  of  the  general  characters  of 
the  governors  of  the  colonies,  to  whom  it  was 
thus  intended  to  delegate  extraordinary  pow 
ers,  Dr.  Franklin  thus  expressed  himself,  in 
terms  well  worthy  the  attention  of  all  minis 
ters  who  are  invested  with  the  appointment 
of  such  functionaries  ; — "  Governors  often 
come  to  the  colonies  merely  to  make  fortunes, 
with  which  they  intend  to  return  to  Britain  ; 
are  not  always  men  of  the  best  abilities  or  in 
tegrity  ;  have  many  of  them  no  estates  here, 
nor  any  natural  connection  with  us,  that 
should  make  them  heartily  concerned  for  our 
welfare  ;  and  might  possibly  be  fond  of  rais 
ing  and  keeping  up  more  forces  than  neces 
sary,  from  the  profits  accruing  to  themselves, 
and  to  make  provision  for  their  friends  and 
dependants." 

The  opposition  which  their  project  experi 
enced  induced  the  British  government  to  with- 
2* 


18  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

draw  it,  and  the  colonies  and  the  mother  coun 
try  for  some  time  longer  acted  together  in 
union  and  harmony.  The  consequence  of 
this  was,  that  under  the  vigorous  administra 
tion  of  Mr.  Pitt,  the  war,  begun  in  1756,  was 
terminated  by  a  treaty  signed  in  1763;  ac 
cording  to  the  articles  of  which,  Canada  was 
ceded  to  great  Britain  by  France,  and  the  two 
Floridas  by  Spain. 

The  North  American  colonies,  in  general, 
entered  into  the  war  of  1756  with  such  zeal, 
that  some  of  them  advanced  funds  for  its 
prosecution  to  a  greater  amount  than  the 
quota  which  had  been  demanded  of  them  by 
the  British  government.  Others  of  them,  how 
ever,  the  state  of  Maryland  for  instance,  had, 
from  local  and  accidental  causes  neglected  to 
contribute  their  share  to  the  requisite  sup 
plies.  This  circumstance,  in  all  probability, 
led  British  statesmen  to  wish  to  establish  a 
system,  by  means  of  which  the  resources  of 
the  colonies  might  be  made  available  without 
the  necessity  of  the  concurrence  of  their  local 
legislatures. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Pitt  is  said  to  have  told 
Dr.  Franklin  that,  "  when  the  war  closed,  if 
he  should  be  in  the  ministry,  he  would  take 
measures  to  prevent  the  colonies  from  having 
a  power  to  refuse  or  delay  the  supplies  which 
might  be  wanting  for  national  purposes." 
This  declaration  is  certainly  at  variance  with 
the  doctrines  which  Mr.  Pitt  maintained  when 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  19 

the  question  of  colonial  taxation  was  after 
wards  discussed  in  parliament.  But  at  the 
latter  period  that  great  statesman  was  no 
longer  minister  ;  and  he  is  not  the  only  poli 
tician  who  has  held  different  language  when 
in  and  when  out  of  power. 


SECTION  III. 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  TENTH  OF 
MARCH,  1764. 

Whatever  might  be  the  motives  of  their 
conduct,  the  British  ministry,  in  the  year  1764, 
began  to  manifest  a  narrow  and  jealous  policy 
towards  the  North  American  colonies.  For  a 
long  series  of  years  the  commerce  of  the  east 
ern  states  had  been  most  beneficially  extended 
to  the  Spanish  and  French  colonies  ;  to  which 
they  transported  great  quantities  of  British 
manufactures,  the  profits  on  the  sale  of  which 
were  divided  between  themselves  and  their 
correspondents  in  the  mother  country.  This 
course  of  trade,  though  not  repugnant  to  the 
spirit  of  the  navigation  laws,  was  contrary  to 
their  letter. 

Of  this  the  British  ministry  took  advantage  ; 
and  by  the  activity  of  their  revenue  cutters, 
they  put  a  stop  to  the  traffic  in  question,  to 


20  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

the  detriment  and  ruin  of  many  merchants, 
not  only  in  America,  but  also  in  Great  Britain. 
In  September,  1764,  indeed,  they  caused  an 
act  to  be  passed,  authorizing  the  trade  be 
tween  the  North  Americans  and  the  French 
and  Spanish  colonies,  but  loading  it  with  such 
duties  as  amounted  to  a  prohibition,  and  pre 
scribing  that  all  offenders  against  the  act 
should  be  prosecuted  in  the  Court  of  Admiral 
ty,  where  they  were  deprived  of  a  trial  by 
jury. 

As  an  accumulation  of  the  grievances  which 
the  colonists  felt  from  this  act,  its  preamble 
contained  the  following  words  of  fearful 
omen  :  "  Whereas  it  is  just  and  necessary  that 
a  revenue  be  raised  in  America  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  defending,  protecting,  and 
securing  the  same,  we,  the  Commons,  &c., 
towards  raising  the  same,  give  and  grant 
unto  your  Majesty,"  &c. 

It  is  believed  by  competent  judges  that  the 
colonists,  however  disposed  to  resent  this  en 
croachment  on  their  constitutional  rights, 
would  have  submitted  without  resistance  to 
the  provisions  of  the  act  as  regulations  of 
trade  and  commerce.  But  the  ministry  soon 
took  a  bolder  step,  by  proceeding  to  impose  a 
direct  internal  tax  upon  the  colonies  by  au 
thority  of  parliament.  This  measure  was  vin 
dicated  on  the  following  grounds,  that  the 
pressure  of  the  payment  of  the  interest  of  the 
national  debt  weighed  so  heavily  on  the  Brit- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  21 

isli  community,  that  it  was  expedient  that  by 
every  proper  means  this  burden  should  be 
lightened  ;  that  a  considerable  portion  of  this 
debt  had  been  contracted  in  the  furnishing  of 
supplies  for  the  defence  of  the  North  Ameri 
can  colonies  ;  that  it  was  just  and  reasonable 
that  those  colonies  should  contribute  their 
proportion  towards  its  liquidation ;  and  that 
the  authority  of  parliament  was  competent  to 
bind  them  so  to  do. 

The  idea  of  relieving  the  public  burdens 
by  the  taxation  of  distant  colonies  was,  of 
course,  very  popular  throughout  the  British 
nation ;  and  so  little  was  the  right  of  parlia 
ment  to  impose  such  taxation  at  first  question 
ed  in  Britain,  that  on  the  10th  of  March,  1764, 
a  resolution  to  the  following  effect  passed  the 
House  of  Commons,  without  any  rjemark — • 
"  That  towards  further  defraying  the  said  ex 
penses,  it  may  be  proper  to  charge  certain 
stamp  duties  in  the  said  colonies  and  planta 
tions."  Nothing,  however,  was  immediately 
done  in  pursuance  of  this  resolution  ;  as  min 
isters  were  in  hopes  that  the  apprehension  of 
the  passing  of  an  act  founded  on  it  would  in 
duce  the  colonists  to  raise  a  sum  equivalent 
to  the  expected  produce  of  such  act,  by  bills 
passed  in  their  respective  legislative  assem 
blies:  but  in  these  hopes  they  were  disap 
pointed. 

When  intelligence  of  the  resolution  for 
laying  a  tax  on  stamps  arrived  in  America, 


22  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

the  colonists  were  filled  with  alarm  and  in 
dignation.  They  declared  internal  taxation 
of  the  colonies  by  the  authority  of  parliament 
to  be  an  innovation  and  an  infringement  on 
their  rights  and  liberties.  If  parliament  was 
authorized  to  levy  one  tax  upon  them,  it  was 
authorized  to  levy  a  thousand.  Where,  then, 
was  the  security  of  their  property,  or  what 
protection  could  they  expect  for  their  dearest 
interests,  from  a  body  of  men  who  were  ig 
norant  of  their  circumstances ;  between  whom 
and  themselves  there  was  no  bond  of  sympa 
thy,  and  who,  indeed,  had  a  direct  interest  in 
removing  the  weight  of  taxation  from  their 
own  shoulders  to  those  of  the  colonists  ?  They 
were  entitled,  they  affirmed,  to  all  the  rights 
of  British  subjects,  of  which  the  most  valua 
ble  was  exemption  from  all  taxes,  save  those 
w^hich  should  be  imposed  upon  them  by  their 
own  freely  chosen  and  responsible  represen 
tatives.  Influenced  by  the  feelings  and  mo 
tives  implied  in  these  declarations,  instead  of 
passing  tax  bills,  they  voted  petitions  and 
remonstrances  to  parliament  and  to  the 
throne. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  28 

SECTION  IV. 

STAMP-ACT,  MARCH  22,   1765. 

The  supplications  and  complaints  of  the 
colonists  were  disregarded.  In  the  month  of 
March,  1765,  a  bill  for  laying  a  duty  on  stamps 
in  America  was  brought  into  the  House  of 
Commons  by  Mr.  Grenville.  This  bill  was 
supported  by  Mr.  Charles  Townsend,  who  is 
reported  to  have  concluded  his  speech  in  its 
favor,  in  the  following  words : — "  And  now 
will  these  Americans — children  planted  by 
our  care,  nourished  up  by  our  indulgence,  till 
they  are  grown  to  a  degree  of  strength  and 
opulence,  and  protected  by  our  arms — will 
they  grudge  to  contribute  their  mite  to  relieve 
us  from  the  heavy  weight  of  that  burden 
which  we  lie  under  ?" 

To  this  invidious  appeal  to  the  pride  and 
the  prejudices  of  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  Colonel  Barre  thus  energetically 
replied  : 

"  They  planted  by  your  care  !  No  !  your  op 
pressions  planted  them  in  America.  They 
fled  from  your  tyranny  to  a  then  uncultivated 
and  inhospitable  country,  where  they  exposed 
themselves  to  almost  all  the  hardships  to 
which  human  nature  is  liable,  and,  among 
others,  to  the  cruelty  of  a  savage  foe,  the  most 


24  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

subtle,  and,  I  will  take  upon  me  to  say,  the 
most  formidable  of  any  people  upon  the  face 
of  God's  earth ;  and  yet,  actuated  by  princi 
ples  of  true  English  liberty,  they  met  all 
hardships  with  pleasure,  compared  with  those 
they  suffered  in  their  own  country,  from  the 
hands  of  those  who  should  have  been  their 
friends. 

"  They  nourished  up  by  your  indulgence  ! 
they  grew  by  your  neglect  of  them.  As  soon 
as  you  began  to  care  for  them,  that  care  was 
exercised  in  sending  persons  to  rule  them  in 
one  department  and  another,  who  were,  per 
haps,  the  deputies  of  deputies  to  some  mem 
bers  of  this  House,  sent  to  spy  out  their  liber 
ties,  to  misrepresent  their  actions,  and  to  prey 
upon  them — men  whose  behavior,  on  many 
occasions,  has  caused  the  blood  of  those  sons 
of  liberty  to  recoil  within  them — men  pro 
moted  to  the  highest  seats  of  justice ;  some 
who,  to  my  knowledge,  were  glad,  by  go 
ing  to  a  foreign  country,  to  escape  being 
brought  to  the  bar  of  a  court  of  justice  in  their 
own. 

"  They  protected  by  your  arms !  they  have 
nobly  taken  up  arms  in  your  defence,  have 
exerted  their  valor,  amidst  their  constant  and 
laborious  industry,  for  the  defence  of  a  coun 
try  whose  frontier  was  drenched  in  blood, 
while  its  interior  parts  yielded  all  its  little 
savings  to  your  emolument.  And,  believe 
me,  remember  I  this  day  told  you  so,  that 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  25 

same  spirit  of  freedom  which  actuated  that 
people  at  first,  will  accompany  them  still ; 
but  prudence  forbids  me  to  explain  myself 
further.  God  knows  I  do  not  at  this  time 
speak  from  any  motives  of  party  heat ;  what 
I  deliver  are  the  genuine  sentiments  of  my 
heart. 

"  However  superior  to  me,  in  general  know 
ledge  and  experience,  the  respectable  body  of 
this  House  may  be,  yet  I  claim  to  know  more 
of  America  than  most  of  you,  having  seen, 
and  been  conversant  with  that  country.  The 
people,  I  believe,  are  as  truly  loyal  as  any 
subjects  the  king  has,  but  a  people  jealous  of 
their  liberties,  and  who  will  vindicate  them 
if  ever  they  should  be  violated.  But  the  sub 
ject  is  too  delicate — I  will  say  no  more." 

In  the  House  of  Lords  the  bill  met  with  no 
opposition  ;  and  on  the  22d  of  March  it  re 
ceived  the  royal  assent.*  In  adopting  the 
stamp-act  as  a  method  of  taxing  the  colonies, 
ministers  flattered  themselves  that  the  nullity 
of  all  transactions  in  which  the  stamps  pre 
scribed  by  the  new  law  were  not  used  would 
insure  its  execution.  In  this  confidence  they 


*  The  night  after  the  passage  of  the  stamp-act,  Franklin 
wrote  from  London  to  his  friend  Charles  Thompson,  after 
wards  the  Secretary  of  Congress — "  The  sun  of  Liberty  is 
set — the  Americans  must  light  up  the  lamps  of  industry  and 
economy."  The  heroism  of  the  revolution  spoke  in  Mr. 
Thompson's  pithy  answer  :  "  Be  assured  we  shall  light  up 
torches  of  another  sort." 

3 


26  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

postponed  the  commencement  of  its  operation 
to  the  month  of  November,  1765. 

This  was  a  fatal  error, on  their  part.  Had 
they  prescribed  its  enforcement  immediately 
on  its  arrival  in  America,  the  colonists  might, 
in  their  consternation,  have  been  awed  into 
compliance  with  its  provisions ;  but  the  long* 
interval  between  its  arrival  and  its  execution, 
gave  them  ample  time  to  organize  their  op 
position  against  it.  Of  this  they  fully  availed 
themselves.  On  the  28th  of  May,  the  assem 
bly  of  Virginia  passed  strong  resolutions 
against  the  stamp-act,  the  substance  of  which 
was  readily  adopted  by  the  other  provincial 
legislatures.  Popular  pamphlets  were  pub 
lished  in  abundance,  in  reprobation  of  the 
power  thus  assumed  by  the  British  parlia 
ment  ;  and  the  proprietors  of  newspapers, 
whose  journals  were  destined  to  be  burdened 
with  a  stamp  duty,  raised  against  the  obnox 
ious  statute  a  cry  which  resounded  from  Mas 
sachusetts  to  Georgia.  The  oppressive  meas 
ures  of  ministers  were  canvassed  in  town- 
meetings  and  in  every  place  of  public  resort ; 
and  the  limits  of  the  obedience  due  to  the 
parent  country  were  freely  and  boldly  dis 
cussed  in  every  company. 

In  these  proceedings  the  colony  of  Virginia 
led  the  way,  by  passing,  in  the  House  of  Bur 
gesses,  at  the  motion  of  Mr.  Patrick  Henry, 
the  following  resolutions: — 1st.  "That  the 
first  adventurers — settlers  of  this  his  majesty's 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  27 

colony  and  dominion  of  Virginia — brought 
with  them,  and  transmitted  to  their  posterity, 
and  all  other  his  majesty's  subjects,  since  in 
habiting  in  this  his  majesty's  said  colony,  all 
the  liberties,  privileges,  and  immunities  that 
have  at  any  time  been  held,  enjoyed,  and 
possessed  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain." 

2dly.  "  That  by  two  royal  charters,  granted 
by  King  James  L,  the  colonies  aforesaid  are 
declared  to  be  entitled  to  all  liberties  privi 
leges,  and  immunities  of  denizens,  and  natural 
subjects,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  if  they 
had  been  abiding  and  born  within  the  realm 
of  England." 

3dly.  "  That  his  majesty's  liege  people  of 
this  his  ancient  colony  have  enjoyed  the  right 
of  being  thus  governed  by  their  own  assem 
bly,  in  the  article  of  taxes  and  internal  police, 
and  that  the  same  has  never  been  forfeited 
or  yielded  up,  but  been  constantly  recognised 
by  the  king  and  people  of  Britain." 

4thly.  "  Resolved,  therefore,  that  the  gen 
eral  assembly  of  this  colony,  together  with  his 
majesty  or  his  substitutes,  have,  in  their  repre 
sentative  capacity,  the  only  exclusive  right 
and  power  to  lay  taxes  and  imposts  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  this  colony,  and  that  every  at 
tempt  to  vest  such  power  in  any  other  person 
or  persons  whatsoever  than  the  general  as 
sembly  aforesaid,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional, 
and  unjust,  and  hath  a  manifest  tendency  to 
destroy  British  as  well  as  American  liberty." 


28  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

5thly.  "Resolved,  that  his  majesty's  liege 
people,  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  are  not 
bound  to  yield  obedience  to  any  law  or  ordi* 
nance  whatever,  designed  to  impose  any  taxa 
tion  whatever  upon  them,  other  than  the 
laws  or  ordinances  of  the  general  assembly 
aforesaid." 

Gthty.  "Resolved,  that  any  person  who  shall, 
by  speaking  or  writing,  assert  or  maintain 
that  any  person  or  persons,  other  than  the 
general  assembly  of  this  colony,  have  any 
right  or  power  to  impose,  or  lay  any  taxation 
on  the  people  here,  shall  be  deemed  an  enemy 
to  this  his  majesty's  colony." 

The  heat  engendered  by  the  debates,  which 
in  various  colonies  issued  in  resolutions  to  the 
tenor  of  the  foregoing,  at  length  broke  out  in 
acts  of  violence.  The  populace  of  Boston  at 
tacked  the  houses  of  the  officers  of  govern 
ment,  and  destroyed  their  furniture.  Similar 
excesses  took  place  in  some  of  the  other  colo 
nies  ;  and  the  general  antipathy  of  the  public 
against  the  act  sheltered  the  perpetrators  of 
these  outrages  from  punishment. 

These  ebullitions  were  followed  by  more 
regular  and  more  effective  proceedings  on  the 
part  of  the  American  patriots.  On  the  Oth  of 
June  the  assembly  of  Massachusetts,  sensible 
of  the  necessity  of  union  to  the  maintenance 
of  their  rights  and  liberties,  invited  the  other 
colonial  legislative  bodies  to  send  deputies  to 
a  general  congress  to  be  holden  at  New  York 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  29 

on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  for  the 
purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  steps  necessary 
to  be  taken  in  the  existing  circumstances. 

This  summons  was  readily  answered  by  all 
the  colonies  except  those  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  and  Georgia,  which,  however,  hearti 
ly  approved  of  the  purposed  measures,  but 
were  prevented  by  their  respective  govern 
ors  from  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
deputies  to  attend  the  congress.  The  repre 
sentatives  of  nine  colonies  met  at  the  time 
and  place  appointed,  and  after  mature  delib 
eration  agreed  upon  a  declaration  of  their 
rights  and  a  statement  of  their  grievances, 
and  also  drew  up  and  signed  petitions  to  the 
king  and  to  both  houses  of  parliament.  Simi 
lar  steps  were  taken  individually  by  the  colo 
nies  which  had  been  prevented  from  sending 
deputies  to  the  congress. 


SECTION  V. 

REPEAL  OF  THE  STAMP-ACT,  TENTH  OP  MARCH, 
1766. NEW  ATTEMPT  AT  TAXATION,  AND  RE 
SISTANCE  TO  THE  SAME. 

The  first  of  November,  the  day  on  which 
the  stamp-act  was  to  commence  its  operation, 
was  ushered  in  throughout  the  colonies  by 
3* 


30  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

the  funereal  tolling  of  bells.  In  the  course 
of  the  day  various  processions  and  public  ex 
hibitions  were  made,  all  indicative  of  the  ab 
horrence  in  which  the  detested  statute  was 
universally  held.  By  common  consent  the 
act  was  utterly  disregarded,  and  not  a  stamp 
was  bought  to  legalize  any  transaction. 

Nor  did  the  Americans  content  themselves 
with  this  sullen  opposition  to  the  measures  of 
ministers.*  They  entered  into  solemn  reso 
lutions  not  to  import  any  British  manufactured 
goods  till  the  stamp-act  was  repealed  ;  and 
an  association  was  formed  to  oppose  the  act 
by  force  of  arms.  The  latter  step  had  no 

*  In  some  places  the  disaffection  and  excitement  broke 
out  in  tumultuous  violence.  In  August  several  riots  oc- 
curred  in  the  town  of  Boston,  in  which  much  valuable  pro 
perty  was  destroyed,  notwithstanding  the  earnest  efforts  of 
the  great  body  of  the  citizens  to  discountenance  and  depress 
them.  The  effigy  of  Oliver,  the  proposed  distributer  of 
stamps,  was  publicly  gibbeted  in  the  streets  of  the  town,  on. 
an  elm-tree,  afterwards  known  as  "  Liberty  Tree."  His 
office  was  torn  down,  his  house  mobbed,  and  great  injury 
done  to  his  furniture.  He  was  compelled  to  decline  the  ap 
pointment,  and  forced,  some  time  after,  to  repeat  the  pledge 
at  the  foot  of  the  tree. 

In  Providence,  R.  I.,  effigies  of  the  stamp  collectors,  and 
those  who  favored  Britain,  were  hung  and  burnt — and  in 
Newport  the  house  of  one  of  them  destroyed  in  the  popular 
fury.  In  New  York  the  act  was  contemptuously  cried  about 
the  streets,  as  "  The  Folly  of  England,  and  the  Ruin  of 
America."  The  stamp  distributer  resigned,  and  the  stamp 
papers  were  seized  and  destroyed.  When  the  vessels  con 
taining  the  stamp  paper  approached  Philadelphia,  the  vessels 
in  the  harbor  hoisted  flags  at  half-mast,  and  the  bells  were 
muffled  and  tolled,  as  for  a  public  calamity. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  31 

immediate  effect ;  but  the  non-importation 
agreement  brought  such  distress  upon  the 
British  manufacturers  that  they  besieged  par 
liament  with  petitions  against  the  measures 
which  had  been  adopted  for  the  taxing  of  the 
colonies. 

Thus  assailed  by  the  clamors  of  the  colo 
nists,  and  by  the  complaints  of  the  suffering 
British  merchants,  his  majesty's  government, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  now  placed  the 
Marquis  of  Rockingham,  for  a  time  wavered 
at  the  view  of  the  unpleasant  alternative 
which  was  set  before  them,  of  either  repeal 
ing  or  enforcing  the  obnoxious  statute.  The 
former  measure  was  grating  to  the  pride  of 
the  nation  at  large,  and  the  latter  evidently 
involved  in  its  prosecution  the  danger  of  a 
civil  war.  During  this  period  of  hesitation, 
the  state  of  the  colonies  was  frequently  dis 
cussed  in  parliament. 

It  was,  in  particular,  the  prominent  subject 
of  debate  at  the  opening  of  the  session  on  the 
17th  of  December,  1765.  On  this  occasion 
Mr.  Pitt  seems  to  have  exerted  all  the  ener 
gies  of  his  powerful  mind  to  avert  the  mis 
chiefs  which  he  beheld  impending  over  his 
country.  "  It  is  a  long  time,  Mr.  Speaker," 
said  he,  "  since  I  have  attended  in  parliament. 
When  the  resolution  was  taken  in  the  House 
to  tax  America,  I  was  ill  in  bed.  If  I  could 
have  endured  to  have  been  carried  in  my  bed, 
so  great  was  the  agitation  of  my  mind  for  the 


32  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

consequences,  I  would  have  solicited  some 
kind  hand  to  have  laid  me  down  on  this  floor, 
to  have  borne  my  testimony  against  it. 

"  It  is  now  an  act  that  has  passed ;  I  would 
speak  with  decency  of  every  act  of  this  House, 
but  I  must  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  House 
to  speak  of  it  with  freedom.  I  hope  a  day 
may  be  soon  appointed  to  consider  the  state 
of  the  nation  with  respect  to  America.  I 
hope  gentlemen  will  come  to  this  debate  with 
all  the  temper  and  impartiality  that  his  ma 
jesty  recommends,  and  the  importance  of  the 
subject  requires — a  subject  of  greater  import 
ance  than  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  this 
House,  that  subject  only  excepted,  when, 
nearly  a  century  ago,  it  was  the  question 
whether  you  yourselves  were  to  be  bound  or 
free.  In  the  mean  time,  as  I  cannot  depend 
upon  health  for  any  future  day,  such  is  the 
nature  of  my  infirmities,  I  will  beg  to  say  a 
few  words  at  present,  leaving  the  justice,  the 
equity,  the  policy,  the  expediency  of  the  act 
to  another  time.  I  will  only  speak  to  one 
point — a  point  which  seems  not  to  have  been, 
generally  understood — I  mean  to  the  right. 

"  Some  gentlemen  seem  to  have  considered 
it  as  a  point  of  honor.  If  gentlemen  consider 
it  in  that  light,  they  leave  all  measures  of 
right  and  wrong,  to  follow  a  delusion  that 
may  lead  to  destruction.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  this  kingdom  has  no  right  to  lay  a  tax 
upon  the  colonies.  At  the  same  time  I  assert 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  33 

the  authority  of  this  kingdom  over  the  colonies 
to  be  sovereign  and  supreme  in  every  circum 
stance  of  government  and  legislation  whatso 
ever.  They  are  the  subjects  of  this  kingdom, 
equally  entitled  with  yourselves  to  all  the  nat 
ural  rights  of  mankind,  and  the  peculiar  priv 
ileges  of  Englishmen.  Equally  bound  by  its 
laws,  and  equally  participating  of  the  constitu 
tion  of  this  free  country,  the  Americans  are 
the  sons — not  the  bastards  of  England.  Taxa 
tion  is  no  part  of  the  governing  or  legislative 
power.  The  taxes  are  a  voluntary  gift  and 
grant  of  the  Commons  alone.  Jn  legislation 
the  three  estates  of  the  realm  are  alike  con 
cerned  ;  but  the  concurrence  of  the  peers  and 
the  crown  to  a  tax  is  only  necessary  to  close 
with  the  form  of  a  law.  The  gift  and  grant 
is  of  the  Commons  alone. 

"  In  ancient  days  the  crown,  the  barons, 
and  the  clergy  possessed  the  lands.  In  those 
days  the  barons  and  clergy  gave  and  granted 
to  the  crown.  They  gave  and  gmnted  what 
was  their  own.  At  present,  since  the  discov 
ery  of  America,  and  other  circumstances 
admitting,  the  Commons  are  become  the  pro 
prietors  of  the  land.  The  crown  has  divested 
itself  of  its  great  estates.  The  church  (God 
bless  it)  has  but  a  pittance.  The  property  01 
the  Lords,  compared  with  that  of  the  Com 
mons,  is  as  a  drop  of  water  in  the  ocean  ; 
and  this  House  represents  those  Commons, 
the  proprietors  of  the  lands ;  and  those  pro- 


34  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

prietors  virtually  represent  the  rest  of  the 
inhabitants. 

"  When,  therefore,  in  this  House  we  give? 
and  grant,  we  give  and  grant  what  is  out 
own.  But  in  an  American  tax  what  do  we 
do  ?  '  We,  your  majesty's  Commons  of  Great 
Britain,  give  and  grant  to  your  majesty' — 
what  ? — our  own  property  ? — No  !  We  give 
and  grant  to  your  majesty  the  property  of 
your  majesty's  Commons  of  America !  It  is 
an  absurdity  in  terms." 

"  There  is,"  said  Mr.  Pitt,  towards  the  close 
of  his  speech,  "  there  is  an  idea  in  some,  that 
the  colonies  are  virtually  represented  in  this 
House.  I  would  fain  know  by  whom  an 
American  is  represented  here  ?  Is  he  repre 
sented  by  any  knight  of  the  shire  in  any  coun 
ty  in  this  kingdom  ?  Would  to  God  that  re 
spectable  representation  was  augmented  to  a 
greater  number  !  Or  will  you  tell  him  that  he 
is  represented  by  any  representative  of  a 
borough — a  borough  which,  perhaps,  no  man 
.ever  saw.  This  is  what  is  called  the  rotten 
part  of  the  constitution.  Is  cannot  continue 
a  century — if  it  does  not  drop  it  must  be  am 
putated.  The  idea  of  a  virtual  representation 
of  America  in  this  House  is  the  most  con 
temptible  idea  that  ever  entered  into  the  head 
of  a  man." 

Mr.  Pitt  concluded  by  declaring  it  as  his 
opinion,  that  while  the  Americans  were  pos 
sessed  of  the  constitutional  right  to  tax  them- 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  35 

selves,  Great  Britain,  as  the  supreme  govern 
ing  and  legislative  power,  had  always  bound 
the  colonies  by  her  laws,  by  her  regulations 
and  restrictions  in  trade,  in  navigation,  in 
manufactures,  in  every  thing  except  that  of 
taking  their  money  out  of  their  pokets  with 
out  their  consent. 

Of  this  broad  assertion,  of  the  extent  of 
British  power  over  the  colonies,  Mr.  Grenville, 
the  patron  of  the  stamp-act,  took  advantage, 
and  maintained  that  there  was  no  difference 
in  principle  between  the  right  to  impose  ex 
ternal  and  internal  taxation.  He  asserted 
that  the  protection  from  time  to  time  afforded 
to  America  by  Britain  was  a  just  ground  of 
claim  to  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  latter 
from  the  former,  and  asked  when  America 
was  emancipated  from  the  allegiance  which 
she  owed  to  the  parent  state  ? 

Provoked  by  Mr.  Grenville's  sophistry,  and 
irritated  by  his  insolence  of  tone  and  manner, 
Mr.  Pitt  gave  utterance  to  the  following  de 
claration — a  declaration,  no  doubt,  well  cal 
culated  to  animate  the  spirit  of  freedom  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  "  The  gentleman 
tells  us  that  America  is  obstinate  ;  America 
is  almost  in  open  rebellion.  I  REJOICE  THAT 
AMERICA  HAS  RESISTED.  Three  millions  of  peo 
ple,  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty,  as 
voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves,  would  have 
been  fit  instruments  to— tfiake  slaves  of  the 
rest  of  their  fellow-subjects." 


36  AMERICAN1   REVOLUTION". 

Thus  did  Mr.  Pitt  plead  the  cause  of  the 
colonies  with  all  the  fervor  of  commanding 
eloquence.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days  the 
same  cause  was  maintained  by  Dr.  Franklin, 
on  the  plain  and  unadorned,  but  convincing 
principles  of  common  sense.  In  the  month 
of  February,  that  celebrated  philosopher  was 
examined  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons 
touching  the  state  of  America,  and  the  pro 
bable  effect  upon  the  inhabitants  of  that 
country  of  the  imposition  of  stamp  duties. 

In  this  examination  he  evinced  an  accurate 
and  extensive  knowledge  of  facts — of  facts 
which  were  calculated  to  convince  any  reason 
able  mind  that  it  was  morally  impossible  to 
enforce  the  stamp-act  in  the  colonies  ;  and 
that  an  attempt  to  effect  that  object  would 
be  productive  of  the  worst  consequences  to 
the  prosperity  of  Britain.  The  train  of  inter 
rogatories  furnished,  of  course,  by  himself,  af 
forded  him  an  opportunity  of  stating  his  opin- 
ons  in  his  accustomed  clear  and  simple  man 
ner  ;  and  the  cross-examination  which  he  un 
derwent  on  the  part  of  members  hostile  to  the 
claims  of  the  colonies,  gave  an  occasion  for 
the  display  of  that  coolness  of  temper  and 
promptitude  of  perception  by  which  he  was 
distinguished. 

His  examination  concluded  with  the  follow 
ing  pithy  questions  and  replies: — Q.  What 
used  to  be  the  pride  ({f  the  Americans  ?  A.  To 
indulge  in  the  fashit1,^ :  and  manufactures  of 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  37 

Great  Britain.  Q.  What  is  now  their  pride  ? 
A.  To  wear  their  old  clothes  over  again  till 
they  can  make  new  ones.* 

The  distresses  of  the  commercial  and  manu 
facturing  interest  now  co-operating  with  par 
liamentary  arguments  and  eloquence,  the  new 
ministers,  who  were  not  so  deeply  committed 
as  their  predecessors  on  the  subject  of  the 
stamp-act,  at  length  made  up  their  mind  to 
give  way.  Before  the  examination  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  indeed,  namely,  on  the  21st  of  Jan 
uary,  1766,  a  motion  had,  under  their  auspices, 
been  made  in  the  Commons  in  a  committee 
of  the  whole  House  to  the  following  effect : — 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 
that  the  House  be  moved,  that  leave  be  given 
to  bring  in  a  bill  to  repeal  an  act  passed  in 
the  last  session  of  parliament,  entitled,  *  An 
act  for  granting  and  applying  certain  stamp 
duties,  and  other  duties  in  the  British  colonies 
and  plantations  in  America  towards  further 
defraying  the  expenses  of  defending,  protect 
ing,  and  securing  the  same,  and  for  amending 
such  parts  of  the  several  acts  of  parliament 
relating  to  the  trade  and  revenues  of  the  said 
colonies  and  plantations,  as  direct  the  manner 
of  determining  and  recovering  the  penalties 
and  forfeitures  therein  mentioned.'" 

To  this  resolution  the  advocates  of  the  ob 
noxious  statute  moved  an  amendment,  by 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  the  Section. 
4 


38  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

which  it  was  proposed  to  leave  out  the  word 
"  repeal,"  and  insert  "  explain  and  amend." 
But  this  amendment  was  rejected  by  a  ma 
jority  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  the  above-men 
tioned  proceedings  were  confirmed  by  the 
passing  a  resolution  similar  to  the  foregoing 
one,  but  with  a  view,  no  doubt,  of  saving  the 
dignity  of  the  nation  and  of  his  majesty's 
government ;  this  second  resolution  was  ac 
companied  by  others,  approving  of  the  conduct 
of  such  of  the  colonists  as  had  used  their  best 
exertions  for  the  enforcement  of  the  stamp- 
act  in  America ;  indemnifying  those  "  who,  by 
reason  of  the  tumults  and  outrages  in  North 
America,  had  not  been  able  to  procure  stamp 
ed  paper  since  the  passing  of  the  act  for  lay 
ing  certain  duties  on  stamps  in  the  colonies, 
and  had  incurred  penalties  and  forfeitures,  by 
writing,  engrossing,  or  printing  on  paper,  vel 
lum,  or  parchment,  not  duly  stamped,  as  re 
quired  by  the  said  act." 

A  bill,  founded  on  these  resolutions,  was 
accordingly  brought  into  the  House.  This 
bill,  after  warm  debates,  passed  both  Houses 
of  Parliament,  and  received  the  royal  assent 
on  the  16th  of  March,  1766.  The  ostensible 
grounds  for  the  adoption  of  this  measure,  as 
expressed  by  preamble  to  the  act,  was  the  inex 
pediency  of  the  tax  on  stamps,  and  by  way  of 
guardedly  reserving  the  main  point  in  ques 
tion,  namely,  the  right  of  the  British  parlia- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  39 

ment  to  impose  internal  taxes  on  the  colonies, 
the  repeal  act  was  accompanied  by  a  declar 
atory  act  in  which  it  was  asserted,  "  that  the 
parliament  had,  and  of  right  ought  to  have, 
power  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  what 
soever." 

This  broad  and  unqualified  claim  on  the 
part  of  the  British  legislature,  was  little  cal 
culated  to  satisfy  such  of  the  American  colo 
nists  as  had  maintained  the  struggle  against 
the  British  ministry  upon  deep  and  well  con 
sidered  principle.  These,  no  doubt,  regarded 
it  with  suspicion  and  dislike,  as  containing 
the  germ  of  future  encroachments  upon  their 
rights  and  privileges.  But  it  seems  to  have 
made  little  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
American  public.  In  their  joy  for  the  repeal 
of  the  stamp-act,  and  in  their  eagerness  to 
resume  their  ordinary  occupations,  the  colonists 
regarded  it  as  a  harmless  sally  of  wounded 
pride,  and  cheerfully  renewed  their  commer 
cial  intercourse  with  the  mother  country. 

But  the  evil  genius  of  Britain  still  fostered 
in  the  cabinet  the  idea  of  raising  a  revenue 
in  America.  Lord  Rockingham  having  been 
superseded  by  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  Charles 
Townsend,  the  then  chancellor  of  the  exche 
quer,  brought  into  the  House  of  Commons,  in 
the  year  1767,  a  bill  which  was  quickly  passed 
into  a  law,  for  granting  duties  in  the  British 
colonies  on  glass,  paper,  painters'  colors,  and 
tea.  This  proceeding  again  kindled  a  blaze 


40  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

throughout  the  provinces.  In  their  estima 
tion,  it  proved  that  the  declaratory  act  was 
not  intended  to  be  a  dead  letter,  and  it  gave 
rise  to  bold  and  acute  discussions  as  to  the 
distinction  between  tax-bills  and  bills  for  the 
regulation  of  trade. 

To  add  to  the  alarm  of  the  colonists,  a 
board  of  commissioners  of  customs  was  estab 
lished  at  Boston  ;  which  step  convinced  them 
that  the  British  government  intended  to  harass 
them  with  a  multiplicity  of  fiscal  oppressions. 
They  therefore  again  had  recourse  to  petitions, 
remonstrances,  and  non-importation  agree 
ments.  The  seizure  of  the  sloop  Liberty,  be 
longing  to  Mr.  Hancock,  a  popular  leader, 
for  an  infringement  of  the  revenue  laws,  in 
cited  the  populace  of  Boston  to  renewed  acts 
of  violence,  which  drove  the  commissioners 
of  the  customs  to  take  shelter  in  Castle  Wil 
liam. 

To  suppress  this  spirit  of  insubordination, 
his  majesty's  ministers  stationed  some  armed 
vessels  in  the  harbor,  and  quartered  two  regi 
ments  of  foot  in  the  town  of  Boston.  The  in 
tention  of  the  British  government  to  send  this 
force  to  Boston  having  been  announced,  the 
selectmen  of  ninety-six  towns  of  the  state  of 
Massachusetts  met  at  Faneuil  Hall,  in  that 
town ;  but  this  assembly,  which  had  excited 
great  alarm  among  the  friends  of  government, 
merely  recommended  moderate  measures,  and 
then  dissolved  itself.  The  day  after  the  break- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  41 

ing  up  of  this  convention,  the  troops  arrived, 
and  landed  without  opposition  under  the  pro 
tection  of  the  guns  of  the  armed  vessels  in  the 
harbor. 

The  intelligence  of  the  refractory  spirit  thus 
manifested  by  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  pro 
duced  such  irritation  in  the  British  parliament, 
that  in  February,  1769,  both  Houses  concur 
red  in  an  address  to  his  majesty,  prompting 
him  to  vigorous  measures  against  all  persons 
guilty  of  what  they  were  pleased  to  denomi 
nate  treasonable  acts ;  and  beseeching  him, 
in  pursuance  of  the  powers  contained  in  an 
obsolete  statute  of  the  35th  of  Henry  VIII.,  to 
seize  the  offenders,  and  cause  them  to  be  tried 
by  a  special  commission  within  the  realm  of 
Great  Britain. 

This  imprudent  suggestion  was  encounter 
ed  by  strong  resolutions  on  the  part  of  the 
provincial  assemblies  ;  and  the  colonists  again 
had  recourse  to  non-importation  agreements, 
and,  in  some  instances,  sent  back  to  Great 
Britain  cargoes  of  goods  which  had  actually 
arrived.  Thus  the  distresses  of  the  British 
manufacturers  were  renewed ;  and  ministers 
were  induced,  by  their  earnest  remonstrances, 
to  repeal  all  the  newly  imposed  duties,  except 
that  on  tea.  This  reservation  being  a  practi 
cal  assertion  of  the  right  of  parliament  to  im 
pose  internal  taxes  on  the  American  states, 
^was  very  odious  to  the  colonists,  who,  how 
ever,  relaxed  their  associations  so  far  as  to 
4* 


42  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION". 

allow  the  importation  of  all  articles  except 
tea,  the  use  of  which  commodity  they  forbore, 
or  supplied  themselves  with  it  by  smuggling. 


NOTE. — On  the  10th  of  November,  1776,  on 
motion  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  that  Mr. 
Penn,  whom  he  saw  below  the  bar,  should  be 
examined,  in  order  to  establish  the  authentici 
ty  of  the  petition  presented  by  him,  several 
curious  particulars,  relative  to  much  contro 
verted  subjects,  came  out  upon  the  examina 
tion  of  this  gentleman. 

He  was  personally  acquainted  with  almost 
all  the  members  of  Congress,  had  been  gov 
ernor  of  the  colony,  and  resided  in  the  city  in 
which  they  assembled  and  held  their  delibera 
tions,  and  had  every  opportunity,  from  office, 
family  connection,  locality  of  property,  and  an 
extensive  acquaintance,  to  obtain  the  fullest 
information  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  America, 
as  well  as  of  the  temper  and  disposition  of  the 
people. 

It  was  also  evident,  that  his  discernment 
was  equal  to  the  forming  a  just  estimate 
of  things  ;  and  there  could  scarcely  be  a  sus 
picion  of  partiality  in  favor  of  any  measure 
which  could  tend  to  American  independence, 
as  the  great  fortune  of  his  family,  if  not  whol 
ly  lost,  must  be  much  impaired  by  such  an 
event.  Among  the  remarkable  parts  of  his 
testimony  was  an  absolute  negative  to  the 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  43 

supposition  or  charge,  that  any  design  of  in 
dependence  had  been  formed  by  the  Congress. 
He  declared  that  the  numbers  composing 
that  body  had  been  fairly  elected;  that  they  were 
men  of  character,  capable  of  conveying  the 
sense  of  America  ;  and  that  they  had  actually 
conveyed  the  sense  of  their  constituents  ;  that 
the  different  provinces  would  be  governed  by 
their  decisions  in  all  events ;  that  the  war 
•was  levied  and  carried  on  by  the  colonists', 
merely  in  defence  of  what  they  thought  their 
liberties ;  that  the  spirit  of  resistance  was 
general,  and  they  believed  themselves  able  to 
defend  their  liberties  against  the  arms  of  Great 
Britain  ;  that  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  con 
tained  about  sixty  thousand  men  able  to  carry 
arms — that  of  these,  twenty  thousand  had 
voluntarily  enrolled  themselves  to  serve  with 
out  pay,  and  were  armed  and  embodied  before 
the  governor's  departure.  Being  questioned 
as  to  the  nature  of  that  volunteer  force,  he  said 
that  it  included  the  men  of  best  fortune  and 
character  in  the  province,  and  that  it  was 
generally  composed  of  men  who  were  pos 
sessed  of  property,  either  landed  or  otherwise ; 
that  an  additional  body  of  four  thousand  five 
hundred  minute-men  had  since  been  raised  in 
the  province,  who  were  to  be  paid  when  called 
out  upon  service  ;  that  they  had  the  means 
and  material  of  casting  iron  cannon  in  great 
plenty  ;  that  they  cast  brass  cannon  in  Phila 
delphia,  and  they  made  small-arms  in  great 


44  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

abundance  and  perfection  ;  that  the  colonies 
had  been  dissatisfied  with  the  reception  of 
their  former  petitions ;  but  that  they  had 
founded  great  hopes  upon  the  success  of  that 
which  he  brought  over,  that  it  was  styled  the 
Olive  Branch,  and  that  he  had  been  congratu 
lated  by  his  friends  upon  his  being  the  bearer 
of  it ;  that  it  was  greatly  to  be  feared,  that  if 
conciliatory  measures  were  not  speedily  pur 
sued,  they  would  form  connections  with  foreign 
powers,  and  that  if  such  connections  were 
once  formed,  it  would  be  found  a  matter  of 
great  difficulty  to  dissolve  them.  Being  asked, 
"  whether  the  people  of  the  different  provinces 
were  now  in  a  state  of  freedom  ?"  he  said  that 
they  thought  themselves  so ;  whether  "  the 
most  opulent  inhabitants  would  not  prefer 
freedom  under  this  country  to  what  they  now 
enjoy  ?  he  answered,  that  they  would  prefer 
it  to  any  other  state  of  freedom ;  and  that, 
notwithstanding  their  determination  to  sup 
port  the  measures  of  the  Congress,  they  wish 
ed  for  a  reconciliation  with  this  country.  He 
denied  its  being  an  object  of  the  Congress  to 
throw  off  the  regulations  of  their  trade,  and 
acknowledged  that  the  most  thinking  men  in 
Pennsylvania  were  of  opinion,  that  a  refusal 
of  the  present  petition  would  be  a  bar  to  all 
reconcilement. 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  45 

SECTION  VI. 

PETITION    AND    REMONSTRANCE,   1773. 

.  Thus  was  tranquillity  restored  to  most  of 
the  colonies.  But  the  presence  of  the  troops 
in  the  town  of  Boston  was  a  perpetual  source 
of  irritation  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts. 
The  Bostonians  regarded  the  soldiers  with  an 
evil  eye,  as  the  instruments  of  tyranny  design 
ed  to  be  used  for  the  destruction  of  their  liber 
ties,  and  availed  themselves  of  every  opportu 
nity  which  occurred  to  annoy  and  insult  them. 
In  resisting  a  violent  act  of  aggression,  a  party 
of  the  military  were  obliged  to  fire  on  the 
populace. 

This  event  occurred  on  the  evening  of 
March  5th,  1770.  The  particulars  are  as  fol 
lows.  There  was  a  regiment  of  British  troops 
quartered  in  barracks  in  Brattle-street,  and 
another  regiment  in  Water-street.  Frequent 
altercations  had  taken  place  between  the 
soldiers  and  the  inhabitants.  On  this  evening 
a  sentinel  who  was  stationed  near  the  Custom 
house,  was  assailed  by  a  number  of  persons, 
and  a  sergeant's  guard  was  sent  to  his  relief, 
followed  immediately  after  by  Captain  Pres 
ton.  A  crowd  soon  assembled  about  the  place, 
and  the  soldiers  were  assaulted  by  missiles  of 
wood,  and  pieces  of  ice,  and  dared  to  fire. 


46  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  soldiers,  after  standing  their  ground  for 
some  time,  fired,  as  stated  above,  upon  their 
assailants.  Three  men  in  the  crowd  were 
immediately  killed,  and  two  others  were  mor 
tally  wounded. 


In  times  of  public  excitement,  nothing  is 
more  irritating  to  the  populace,  and  nothing 
more  painful  to  men  of  cultivated  minds,  than 
the  interference  of  the  military.  When  that 
interference  is  attended  with  fatal  conse 
quences,  the  phrensy  of  the  people  rises  to  the 
utmost  height.  Such  was  the  case  with  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston.  On  hearing  of  the 
melancholy  event,  some  obscure  individuals 
caused  the  drums  to  beat  to  arms,  and  the 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  47 

townsmen  assembled  to  the  amount  of  some 
thousands.  They  were,  however,  happily  ap 
peased  by  the  intervention  of  several  patriotic 
leaders,  whose  zeal  was  allayed  by  prudence, 
and  in  consequence  of  whose  interference 
with  the  lieutenant-governor  the  obnoxious 
troops  were  sent  out  of  the  town.  Artful 
means  were,  however,  resorted  to  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  alive  their  resentment. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  appointed  for 
the  burial  of  the  slain,  most  of  the  shops  in 
Boston  were  shut.  The  bells  of  that  town, 
of  Charlestown,  and  Roxbury,  rung  out  muf 
fled  peals.  Mournful  processions  moving  from 
the  houses  of  the  murdered  dead,  as  they  who 
had  fallen  by  the  fire  of  the  military  were 
denominated,  united  with  the  corpses  at  the 
spot  where  they  had  met  their  fate.  Here 
forming  into  a  body,  they  marched  six  abreast, 
followed  by  the  carriages  of  the  gentry, 
through  the  main  streets  to  the  place  of  in 
terment. 

Immediately  after  the  affray,  which  was 
productive  of  such  sad  consequences,  Captain 
Preston,  the  officer  who  commanded  the  party 
who  had  fired  upon  the  people,  had  been  com 
mitted  to  prison,  together  with  a  number  of 
private  soldiers  who  were  implicated  in  that 
act.  The  firing  had  taken  place  on  the  5th 
of  March,  and  though  the  trial  of  the  accused 
did  not  take  place  till  the  following  November, 
there  might  have  been  reason  to  apprehend 


48  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

that,  in  appearing,  for  a  decision  on  a  case  of 
life  and  death,  before  a  Boston  jury,  they 
would  run  the  greatest  hazard  of  falling  vic 
tims  to  infuriated  prejudice. 

But,  in  this  instance,  the  Bostonians  gave 
evidence  of  their  English  descent.  In  capital 
cases,  Englishmen,  in  modern  times  at  least, 
have  almost  uniformly  exercised  an  impartial 
administration  of  the  law.  Such  was  the 
temper  which  was  manifested  by  the  court 
and  jury  on  the  trial  of  Captain  Preston  and 
his  comrades.  After  a  patient  investigation 
of  the  case,  all  the  prisoners  were  acquitted 
of  murder,  and  two,  being  found  guilty  of 
manslaughter,  were  immediately  burnt  in  the 
hand  and  discharged. 

It  is  a  fact  not  to  be  omitted,  that  they  were 
defended,  and  zealously  defended,  by  the  cele 
brated  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy,  than 
whom  there  did  not  exist  more  ardent  advo 
cates  of  the  cause  of  American  freedom.* 
The  former  of  these  gentlemen,  in  warning 
the  jury  against  giving  way  to  popular  im 
pressions,  expressed  himself  in  the  following 
energetic  terms : — "  The  law,  in  all  vicissitudes 
of  government,  fluctuations  of  the  passions, 

*  It  is  also  a  fact  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  counsel  for 
the  crown,  Samuel  Quincy,  Esq.,  solicitor-general,  was  the 
brother  of  Josiah  Quincy,  and  on  the  termination  of  the 
siege  of  Boston,  1776,  he  left  the  country  with  other  loya 
lists,  and  held  the  office  of  attorney  for  the  crown  in  the 
island  of  Antigua,  until  his  death,  in  1789. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  49 

or  flights  of  enthusiasm,  will  preserve  a  steady, 
undeviating  course ;  it  will  not  bend  to  the 
uncertain  wishes,  imaginations,  and  wanton 
tempers  of  men.  To  use  the  words  of  a  great 
and  worthy  man,  a  patriot  and  a  hero,  an  en 
lightened  friend  to  mankind,  and  a  martyr  to 
liberty — I  mean  Algernon  Sidney — who,  from 
his  earliest  infancy,  sought  a  tranquil  retire 
ment  under  the  shadow  of  the  tree  of  liberty, 
with  his  tongue,  his  pen,  and  his  sword — 

" '  The  law,'  says  he,  '  no  passion  can  dis 
turb.  It  is  void  of  desire  and  fear,  lust  and 
anger.  It  is  mens  sine  ajfectu ;  written  reason ; 
retaining  some  measure  of  the  divine  perfec 
tion.  It  does  not  enjoin  that  which  pleases  a 
weak,  frail  man,  but,  without  any  regard  to 
persons,  commands  that  which  is  good,  and 

Eunishes  evil  in  all,  whether  rich  or  poor, 
igh  or  low.  It  is  deaf,  inexorable,  inflexi 
ble.'  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Adams,  "on  the  one 
hand,  it  is  inexorable  to  the  cries  and  lamen 
tations  of  the  prisoners  ;  on  the  other,  it  is 
deaf,  deaf  as  an  adder,  to  the  clamors  of  the 
populace." 

Notwithstanding  this  firmness  on  the  part 
of  the  counsel  for  the  prisoners,  and  notwith 
standing  the  impartiality  of  the  jury  and  of 
the,  judge,  which  latter,  in  his  summing  up  on 
the  trial  of  Captain  Preston,  did  not  hesitate 
to  say,  "I  feel  myself  deeply  affected  that 
this  affair  turns  out  so  much  to  the  shame  of 
the  town  in  general,"  ministers  took  advantage 
5 


50  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

of  the  disturbed  state  of  the  public  mind,  by 
making  it  a  pretext  for  rendering  the  governor 
and  judges  of  Massachusetts  independent  of 
the  province,  by  transferring  the  payment  of 
their  salaries  from  the  assembly  to  the  crown, 

In  consequence  of  this  proceeding,  Governor 
Hutchinson,  who  had  never  been  popular,  be 
came  still  more  than  ever  an  object  of  dislike. 
Such  being  the  disposition  of  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  towards  their  chief  magistrate, 
their  indignation  against  him  was  raised  to  the 
highest  pitch  in  the  year  1773  by  an  incident, 
the  consequences  of  which  had  a  most  unhap 
py  aspect  on  the  fortunes  of  Great  Britain. 
The  servants  of  government  naturally  look 
with  a  jealous  eye  upon  the  bold  assertors  of 
popular  rights  ;  and  as  naturally  imagine  that 
they  shall  most  gratify  their  masters  by  the 
recommendation  of  a  steady  and  active  resist 
ance  against  what  they  are  apt  to  deem  the 
encroachments  of  popular  claims. 

In  this  spirit  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Oliver, 
the  former  the  governor  and  the  latter  lieu 
tenant-governor  of  the  colony  of  Massachu 
setts,  had  addressed  some  letters  to  individuals 
•who  had  put  them  into  the  hands  of  his  ma 
jesty's  ministers,  in  which  letters  they  vitupe 
rated  the  American  patriots,  called  upon  gov 
ernment  to  adopt  more  vigorous  measures  t  han 
they  had  hitherto  done  in  support  of  their  au 
thority,  recommended  restraints  upon  liberty 
and  an  infringement  of  charters,  and  even  the 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  51 

*  taking  off"  of  the  principal  opponents  to 
British  domination. 

These  letters  having  come  into  the  posses 
sion  of  Dr.  Franklin,  he  thought  it  his  duty, 
as  agent  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
Massachusetts,  to  send  them  to  his  constituents. 
Their  perusal  excited,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  the  indignation  of  the  assembly,  the 
members  of  which  unanimously  resolved, 
"  That  the  tendency  and  design  of  the  said 
letters  was  to  overthrow  the  constitution  of 
this  government,  and  to  introduce  arbitrary 
power  into  the  province  ;"  and,  moreover, 
passed  a  vote,  "  that  a  petition  should  be  im 
mediately  sent  to  the  king,  to  remove  the 
governor,  Hutchinson,  and  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  Oliver,  for  ever  from  the  govern 
ment  of  the  province." 

Dr.  Franklin,  after  having  transmitted  the 
petition  in  question  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  the 
then  Colonial  Secretary,  appeared  to  support 
it  in  person  at  the  Council  Chamber  on  the 
llth  of  January,  1774;  but,  finding  that  he 
was  to  be  encountered  by  counsel  employed 
on  behalf  of  the  accused  functionaries,  he 
prayed  that  the  hearing  of  the  case  might  be 
adjourned  for  the  space  of  three  weeks,  which 
was  granted  him.  In  the  mean  time  specula 
tion  was  all  alive  as  to  the  means  by  which 
Dr.  Franklin  had  obtained  possession  of  the 
letters ;  and  a  Mr.  Whateley  and  a  Mr.  Tem 
ple,  both  connected  with  the  colonial  office, 


52  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

mutually  suspecting  each  other  of  the  unfaith 
ful  communication  of  them,  a  correspondence 
took  place  between  those  gentlemen,  which 
ended  in  a  duel,  in  which  Mr.  Whateley  was 
dangerously  wounded. 

For  the  prevention  of  further  mischief  of 
this  sort,  Dr.  Franklin  published,  in  the  "  Pub 
lic  Advertiser,"  a  letter  exonerating  both  the 
combatants  from  blame  in  this  case,  and  tak 
ing  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  procuring 
the  documents  on  himself.  When  the  doctor 
appeared  again  before  the  council  in  support 
of  the  Massachusetts  petition,  he  was  assailed 
by  Mr.  Wedderburne,  who  acted  for  the  gov 
ernor  and  the  lieutenant-governor,  in  terms  of 
most  elaborate  abuse. 

"The  letters,"  said  the  caustic  advocate, 
"  could  not  have  come  to  Dr.  Franklin  by  fair 
means.  The  writers  did  not  give  them  to  him, 
nor  yet  did  the  deceased  correspondent.  No 
thing,  then,  will  acquit  Dr.  Franklin  of  the 
charge  of  obtaining  them  by  fraudulent  or 
corrupt  means,  for  the  most  malignant  of  pur 
poses  ;  unless  he  stole  them  from  the  person 
that  stole  them.  This  argument  is  irrefraga 
ble. 

"  I  hope,  my  lords,  you  will  mark  and 
brand  the  man,  for  the  honor  of  this  country, 
of  Europe,  and  of  mankind.  Private  corres 
pondence  has  hitherto  been  held  sacred  in 
times  of  the  greatest  party  rage,  not  only  in 
politics,  but  religion.  He  has  forfeited  all  the 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  58 

respect  of  societies  and  of  men.  Into  what 
companies  will  he  hereafter  go  with  an  un 
embarrassed  face,  or  the  honest  intrepidity  of 
virtue  ?  Men  will  watch  him  with  a  jealous 
eye — they  will  hide  their  papers  from  him, 
and  lock  up  their  escritoirs.  He  will  hence 
forth  esteem  it  a  libel  to  be  called  a  man  of 
letters — homo  trium  literarum.*  But  he  not 
only  took  away  the  letters  from  one  brother, 
but  kept  himself  concealed  till  he  nearly  oc 
casioned  the  murder  of  the  other. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  read  his  account,  ex 
pressive  of  the  coolest  and  most  deliberate 
malice,  without  horror.  Amidst  these  tragical 
events,  of  one  person  nearly  murdered,  of  an 
other  answerable  for  the  issue,  of  a  worthy 
governor  hurt  in  his  dearest  interests,  the  fate 
of  America  in  suspense, — here  is  a  man,  who, 
with  the  utmost  insensibility  of  remorse,  stands 
up  and  avows  himself  the  author  of  all.  I 
can  compare  it  only  to  Zanga  in  Dr.  Young's 
Revenge — 

*  Know,  then,  'twas — I ; 

I  forged  the  letter ;  I  disposed  the  picture. 
I  hated,  I  despised,  and  I  destroy.' 

I  ask,  my  lords,  whether  the  revengeful  tem 
per  attributed,  by  poetic  fiction  only,  to  the 
bloody  African,  is  not  surpassed  by  the  cool 
ness  and  apathy  of  the  wily  American  ?" 

Less  fervid  eloquence  than  this  of  Mr. 
Wedderburne's  would  have  been  sufficient  to 

*  Fur,  thief. 
5* 


54  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

sway  the  decision  of  the  council,  who  declar 
ed  the  petition  of  the  Massachusetts  assembly 
to  be  scandalous  and  vexatious.  Franklin 
was  dismissed  from  the  office  which  he  held 
of  postmaster-general  of  the  colonies.  Wed- 
derburne  was  afterwards  advanced  in  his 
profession,  till  he  attained  the  chancellorship 
and  a  peerage  ;  and  George  III.  lost  thirteen 
provinces. 

Till  this  moment  Franklin  had  labored  for 
conciliation ;  but  though,  during  the  time  of 
the  hearing  of  the  arguments  before  the 
council,  he  preserved  his  countenance  unmov 
ed,  the  insults  of  Wedderburne  so  exasperated 
his  feelings,  that  when  he  left  the  council- 
room  he  declared  to  his  friend  Dr.  Priestley, 
who  accompanied  him  on  this  memorable  oc 
casion,  that  he  would  never  again  put  on  the 
clothes  which  he  then  wore  till  he  had  receiv 
ed  satisfaction.  He  dressed  himself  in  this 
"  well-saved"  suit  when  he  signed  at  Paris  the 
treaty  which  for  ever  deprived  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain  of  its  dominion  over  the  United 
States.  It  is  only  within  these  seven  years 
that  it  has  been  ascertained  that  governor 
Hutchinson's  letters  were  put  into  Franklin's 
hands  by  a  Dr.  Williamson,  who,  without  any 
suggestion  on  his  part,  had  procured  them  by 
stratagem  from  the  office  where  they  had 
been  deposited.* 

*  This  curious  fact  is  stated,  with  many  particulars,  in  a 
Memoir  of  Dr.  Williamson,  by  Dr.  Hosack,  of  New  York. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  55 


SECTION  VII. 

BOSTON    PORT-ACT,    AND    REPEAL    OF    THE    CHARTER 
OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  determination  of  the  colonists  to  use 
no  tea  which  had  paid  duty  was  so  generally 
persevered  in,  that  seventeen  millions  of 
pounds  of  that  commodity  were  accumulated 
in  the  warehouses  of  the  East  India  Company. 
With  a  view  of  getting  rid  of  this  stock,  and 
at  the  same  time  of  aiding  ministers  in  their 
project  of  taxing  the  North  American  colonies, 
the  company  proposed  that  a  law  should  be 
passed  authorizing  them  to  receive  a  draw 
back  of  the  full  import  duties  on  all  teas  which 
they  should  export.  To  this  proposal  the 
British  government  agreed,  in  hopes  that,  as 
by  this  arrangement  the  colonists,  on  paying 
the  duty  of  three-pence  per  pound  on  the  land 
ing  of  the  tea  in  their  harbors,  would  be  able 
to  buy  it  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  they  could 
do  from  the  contraband  dealers,  their  patriotic 
scruples  would  be  silenced  by  their  love  of 
gain. 

In  this  notion,  however,  ministers  were  mis 
taken.  Strong  resolutions  were  entered  into 
throughout  the  provinces,  declaring,  that 
whosoever  should  aid  or  abet  in  landing  or 
vending  the  tea  which  was  expected,  ought 


56  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

to  be  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  his  country ; 
and  that  committees  should  be  appointed  to 
wait  on  the  agents  of  the  East  India  Compa 
ny,  and  to  demand  from  them  a  resignation 
of  their  appointments. 

Terrified  by  these  proceedings,  a  great  ma 
jority  of  the  consignees  complied  with  this 
requisition  ;  but  in  Massachusetts  these  agents 
being  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  governor, 
and  expecting  to  be  supported  by  the  milita 
ry  force  stationed  in  Boston,  were  determined 
to  land  and  offer  for  sale  the  obnoxious  com 
modity.  As  the  tea  ships  were  lying  in  the 
harbor,  ready  to  land  their  cargoes,  the  lead 
ing  patriots,  apprehensive  that,  if  the  tea  were 
once  warehoused,  the  opposition  of  the  peo 
ple  to  its  sale  might  gradually  give  way,  and 
deeming  decisive  measures  absolutely  neces 
sary  in  the  present  circumstances,  boarded 
the  vessels,  and  emptied  the  tea-chests  into 
the  water. 

The  particulars  of  this  adventure  are  these. 
The  ships  alluded  to  were  the  Dartmouth  and 
Elenor,  and  the  Brig  Beaver,  which  arrived 
in  Boston  about  the  first  of  December,  1773, 
with  tea  shipped  by  the  East  India  Company. 
In  anticipation  of  their  arrival,  a  meeting  had 
been  held,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  the 
consignees  of  the  tea  should  be  required  to 
send  it  back,  without  permitting  it  to  be  landed. 
This  requisition  not  being  complied  with,  sev 
eral  meetings  of  the  people  of  Boston  and  the 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 


57 


neighboring  towns  were  held,  at  the  Old  South 
Church,  for  taking  measures  to  enforce  a 
compliance.  The  last  of  these  meetings  was 
held  on  the  14th  of  December,  and  was  pro 
longed  by  debates  to  near  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  At  a  given  signal,  about  thirty  per 
sons,  who  were  disguised  as  Indians,  proceeded 
in  a  body  to  the  tea  ships,  which  lay  at  anchor 


near  Griffin's  wharf.  The  meeting  was  im 
mediately  dissolved,  and  the  crowed  followed 
to  the  wharf.  The  disguised  party  having 
boarded  these  ships,  in  less  than  two  hours 
took  out  all  the  tea,  amounting  to  240  chests, 
and  100  half-chests,  broke  them  to  pieces,  and 
threw  their  contents  into  the  sea. 


58  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  British  ministry  rejoiced  that  this  out 
rage  had  occurred,  and  that  it  had  occurred 
in  the  town  of  Boston,  which  they  had  long 
regarded  as  the  focus  of  sedition,  from  whence 
a  spirit  of  resistance  to  British  authority  was 
diffused  throughout  the  colonies.  It  now  lay 
at  their  mercy,  as  having  been  guilty  of  a 
flagrant  delinquency,  and  as  meriting  exemp 
lary  punishment.  Determined  to  chastise  its 
mutinous  inhabitants  for  their  numerous  delin 
quencies,  and  to  bend  them  to  submission, 
Lord  North,  then  prime  minister,  on  the  14th 
of  March,  made  a  motion  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  "  That  leave  be  given  to  bring  in  a  bill 
for  the  immediate  removal  of  the  officers  con 
cerned  in  the  collection  and  management  of 
his  majesty's  duties  and  customs  from  the  town 
of  Boston,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  North  America  ;  and  to  discontinue 
the  landing  and  discharging,  lading  and  ship 
ping  of  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  at  the 
said  town  of  Boston,  or  within  the  harbor 
thereof." 

The  deep  silence  which  followed  the  annun 
ciation  of  this  motion  marked  the  sense  of  the 
house  as  to  the  serious  consequences  which 
it  involved;  but  it  met  with  no  opposition, 
except  on  the  part  of  Alderman  Sawbridge 
and  Mr.  Dowdswell.  Even  Colonel  Barre, 
the  great  advocate  of  the  rights  of  the  colo 
nies,  spoke  in  favor  of  it,  and  it  passed  with 
out  a  division.  No  debate  occurred  on  the 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  5^ 

first  reading  of  the  bill  on  the  18th  of  March  ; 
and  the  second  reading,  which  took  place  on 
the  21st  of  the  same  month,  was  only  inter 
rupted  by  a  few  adverse  remarks  made  by 
Mr.  R.  Fuller.  On  the  25th,  a  petition  was 
presented  against  the  bill,  signed  by  several 
natives  of  North  America,  at  that  time  resi 
dent  in  London  ;  after  the  reading  of  which 
the  House  discussed  its  provisions  in  commit 
tee. 

Mr.  Fuller  availed  himself  of  this  occasion 
to  move,  that  instead  of  the  closing  of  the  port 
of  Boston,  which  measure,  he  argued,  would 
be  detrimental,  not  only  to  American,  but 
also  to  British  interests,  a  fine  should  be  im 
posed  on  the  offending  community.  This 
amendment  was  opposed  by  the  prime  min 
ister,  who  said  that  he  was  no  enemy  to  leni 
ent  measures,  but  that  it  was  evident  that, 
with  respect  to  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  re 
solutions  of  censure  and  warning  would  avail 
nothing, — that  it  was  then  the  time  to  stand 
out,  to  defy  them,  to  proceed  with  firmness 
and  without  fear,  and  that  they  would  never 
reform  till  severe  measures  were  adopted. 

With  a  lamentable  want  of  foresight  his 
lordship  thus  proceeded :  "  I  hope  that  we 
every  one  feel  that  this  is  the  common  cause 
of  us  all ;  and  unanimity  will  go  half  way  to 
the  obedience  of  the  people  of  Boston  to  this 
bill.  The  honorable  gentleman  tells  us,  that 
the  act  will  be  a  piece  of  waste  paper,  and 


60  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

that  an  army  will  be  required  to  put  it  into 
execution.  The  good  of  this  act  is,  that  four 
or  five  frigates  will  do  the  business  without 
any  military  force." 

With  a  similar  blindness  to  futurity,  Mr. 
Charles  Jenkinson  exclaimed,  "  We  have  gone 
into  a  very  expensive  war  for  the  attainment 
of  America  ;  the  struggle  which  we  shall  now 
have  to  keep  it  will  be  of  little  expense." 
Thus  rash  and  short-sighted  are  statesmen 
when  their  passions  obtain  the  mastery  over 
their  judgment  !  After  a  lengthened  debate, 
in  the  course  of  which  the  bill  was  powerful 
ly  opposed  by  Mr.  Burke  and  Mr.  Dowdswell, 
it  passed  the  Commons  with  but  very  few 
negatives  ;  and  having  been  hurried  through 
the  House  of  Lords,  it  finally  received  the 
royal  assent,  and  was  passed  into  a  law. 

The  Boston  port-act  was  speedily  followed 
by  still  more  alarming  measures.  The  free 
constitutions  of  the  American  provinces  had 
presented  strong  impediments  against  the 
views  of  his  majesty  and  his  ministers.  Among 
these,  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  was  pre 
eminent  for  the  liberality  of  its  principles. 
Being  well  aware,  that  while  this  charter 
subsisted  he  could  never  effectuate  his  designs, 
Lord  North  determined  to  set  it  aside.  When 
Charles  II.  deemed  it  necessary  for  his  pur 
poses  to  abrogate  the  franchises  of  the  city  of 
London,  and  of  other  corporate  towns  in  Eng 
land,  he  attacked  their  charters  by  quo  war- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  61 

ranlos  ;  but  the  process  of  law  is  tedious,  and 
in  this  case  the  issue  of  legal  proceedings 
might  be  uncertain. 

The  minister,  therefore,  decided  upon  bring 
ing  the  omnipotence  of  parliament  to  bear 
upon  the  contumacious  inhabitants  of  the  of 
fending  colony.  Accordingly,  on  the  28th  of 
March,  1774,  on  the  allegation  that  an  exec 
utive  power  was  wanting  in  the  province  of 
Massachusetts,  and  that  it  was  highly  neces 
sary  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  its  magistracy, 
he  proposed  to  bring  in  a  bill,  authorizing  the 
governor  for  the  time  being  to  act  as  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  empowering  him  to  appoint 
at  his  will  and  pleasure  the  officers  through 
out  the  whole  civil  authority,  such  as  the 
provost  marshal  and  the  sheriffs  ;  to  which 
latter  officers  was  to  be  delegated  the  nomi 
nation  of  juries,  who  had  formerly  been  elect 
ed  by  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the 
several  towns  of  the  province. 

It  was  also  his  lordship's  intention  to  vest 
in  the  crown  the  appointment  of  the  council, 
which,  under  the  provisions  of  the  ancient 
constitution,  had  heretofore  been  elected  by 
the  general  court.  The  latter  provision  was 
introduced  into  the  bill  at  the  suggestion  of 
Lord  George  Germaine,  who  was  pleased  to 
say,  that  "  he  would  not  have  men  of  a  mer 
cantile  cast  every  day  collecting  themselves 
together  and  debating  about  political  mat 
ters  ;  he  would  have  them  follow  their  occu- 
6 


62  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

pations  as  merchants,  and  not  consider  them 
selves  as  ministers  of  that  country." 

In  pursuance  of  this  suggestion,  which  was 
thankfully  received  by  the  premier,  there 
were  added '  to  the  bill  severe  restrictions  on 
the  holding  of  public  town  meetings.  Leave 
was  given  to  bring  in  the  bill  without  a  single 
objection,  except  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Byng, 
the  member  for  Middlesex  ;  and  though,  in 
its  progress  through  the  House  of  Commons, 
many  weighty  arguments  were  urged  against 
it,  especially  by  Governor  Pownall  and  Mr. 
Dowdswell,  it  was  carried  on  the  2d  of  May, 
by  a  majority  of  239  against  64  voices.  In 
the  House  of  Lords  it  was  severely  animad 
verted  upon ;  but  a  division  of  92  to  20  evinced 
that  the  majority  of  the  peers  of  the  realm 
entered  heartily  into  the  views  of  the  ministry 
as  to  coercing  the  American  colonies. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond,  however,  and 
eleven  other  peers,  protested  against  it  for 
the  following  reasons  ;  "  Because,  before  the 
rights  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
which  they  derive  from  their  charter,  are 
taken  away,  the  definite  legal  offence  by 
which  a  forfeiture  of  their  charter  is  incurred 
ought  to  have  been  clearly  stated,  and  the 
parties  heard  in  their  own  defence  ;  and  the 
mere  celerity  of  a  decision  against  it  will  not 
reconcile  the  minds  of  the  people  to  that 
mode  of  government  which  is  to  be  establish 
ed  upon  its  ruins. 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  63 

"  On  the  general  allegations  of  a  declaratory 
preamble,  the  rights  of  any  public  body  may 
be  taken  away,  and  any  visionary  scheme  of 
government  substituted  in  their  place.  By 
this  bill,  the  governor  and  council. are  invested 
with  dangerous  powers,  unknown  to  the  Brit 
ish  constitution,  and  with  which  the  king  him 
self  is  not  intrusted.  By  the  appointment 
and  removal  of  the  sheriff  at  pleasure,  they 
have  the  means  of  returning  such  juries  as 
may  best  suit  with  the  gratification  of  their 
passions  and  their  interests ;  the  life,  liberty, 
and  property  of  the  subject  are  put  into  their 
hands  without  control. 

"The  weak,  inconsistent,  and  injudicious 
measures  of  the  ministry  have  given  new 
force  to  the  distractions  of  America,  which,  on 
the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act,  were  subsiding  ; 
have  revived  dangerous  questions,  and  grad 
ually  estranged  the  affections  of  the  colonies 
from  the  mother  country.  To  render  the  col 
onies  permanently  advantageous,  they  must 
be  satisfied  with  their  condition ;  that  satisfac 
tion  there  is  no  chance  of  restoring,  but  by 
recurring  to  the  principles  on  which  the  re 
peal  of  the  stamp-act  was  founded." 

The  Boston  port-act,  and  the  act  for  re 
modelling  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts, 
were  strong  and  severe  measures, — measures 
which,  it  might  have  been  conceived,  would 
have  set  at  rest  any  common  jealousy  of  pop 
ular  rights,  and  satisfied  any  ordinary  thirst  for 


^64  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

Tengeance.  But,  while  these  acts  were  in 
progress,  the  British  prime  minister  held  in 
reserve  another  vial  of  wrath  to  pour  on  the 
heads  of  the  refractory  colonists.  On  the 
15th  of  April,  he  rose  in  his  place  and  pro 
posed  a  third  bill,  which,  he  hoped,  would  ef 
fectually  secure  the  province  of  Massachu 
setts  Bay  from  future  disturbances.  The  ten 
or  of  this  bill,  which  bore  the  plausible  title 
of  a  bill  "  for  the  impartial  administration  of 
justice,"  was,  that  "in  case  of  any  person 
being  indicted  for  murder  or  any  other  capi 
tal  offence  committed  in  the  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts  in  aiding  the  magistracy,  the  gov 
ernor  might  send  the  person  so  indicted  to 
another  colony  or  to  Great  Britain  for  trial ;" 
the  act  to  continue  in  force  for  four  years. 

It  was  observed,  that  while  Lord  North 
was  moving  the  House  for  leave  to  bring  in 
this  bill,  and  was  attempting,  in  a  short  speech, 
to  enforce  its  necessity,  his  voice  faltered. 
This  is  not  matter  of  surprise.  His  lordship 
was  a  good-tempered  and  humane  man  ;  and 
it  must  have  been  repugnant  to  his  better 
feelings  to  become  the  organ  for  the  propos 
ing  of  such  atrocious  measures. 

The  introduction  of  this  bill  roused  in  op 
position  to  it  the  energies  of  Colonel  Barre, 
who  had,  however  unwillingly,  acquiesced  in 
the  preceding  laws  of  coercion.  He  saw 
clearly  the  drift  of  the  proposed  statute,  and 
was  well  aware  that  the  colonists  would  not 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  65 

submit  to  it.  "  You  may,"  said  he,  "  think 
that  a  law  founded  on  this  motion  will  be  a 
protection  to  the  soldier  who  imbrues  his 
hand  in  the  blood  of  his  fellow-subjects.  I 
am  mistaken  if  it  will.  Who  is  to  execute 
it?  He  must  be  a  bold  man,  indeed,  who 
will  make  the  attempt.  If  the  people  are  so 
exasperated,  that  it  is  unsafe  to  bring  the 
man  who  has  injured  them  to  trial,  let  the 
governor  who  withdraws  him  from  justice 
look  to  himself.  The  people  will  not  endure 
it ;  they  would  no  longer  deserve  the  reputa 
tion  of  being  descended  from  the  loins  of 
Englishmen  if  they  did  endure  it." 

Such  was  the  bold  language  of  an  experi 
enced  soldier,  who  knew  America  well.  But 
this  warning  voice  was  raised  in  vain.  The 
views  of  the  Court  were  adopted  by  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  this  last  and  most 
unconstitutional  measure  of  coercion  was 
passed  into  a  law. 

The  Earl  of  Chatham  was  unable  to  attend 
the  House  until  the  bills  had  been  passed, 
but  he  took  occasion  to  raise  a  warning  voice 
against  them  on  a  subsequent  agitation  of  the 
matter. 

"  I  condemn,"  said  he,  "  in  the  severest 
manner,  the  turbulent  and  unwarrantable 
conduct  of  the  Americans,  in  some  instances, 
particularly  in  the  late  riots  at  Boston ;  but, 
my  lords,  the  mode  which  has  been  pursued 
to  bring  them  back  to  a  sense  of  their  duty, 
6* 


'66  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

is  so  diametrically  opposite  to  every  princi 
ple  of  sound  policy,  as  to  excite  my  utmost 
astonishment.  You  have  involved  the  guilty 
and  the  innocent  in  one  common  punishment, 
and  avenge  the  crime  of  a  few  lawless  depre 
dators  upon  the  whole  body  of  the  inhabit 
ants. 

"My  lords,  it  has  always  been  my  fixed  and 
unalterable  opinion,  and  I  will  carry  it  with 
me  to  the  grave,  that  this  country  has  no 
right  under  heaven  to  tax  America.  It  is 
contrary  to  all  the  principles  of  justice  and 
civil  policy  ;  it  is  contrary  to  that  essential, 
unalterable  right  in  nature,  ingrafted  into  the 
British  constitution  as  a  fundamental  law, 
that  what  a  man  has  honestly  acquired  is  ab 
solutely  his  own,  which  he  may  freely  give, 
but  which  cannot  be  taken  away  from  him 
without  his  consent." 

It  might  seem  just  and  equitable  that  com 
pensation  should  be  made  by  a  delinquent 
community  for  property  destroyed  within  its 
precincts,  and  not  unreasonable  that  a  town 
which  had  perpetrated  an  open  violation  of 
fiscal  law,  should  be  deprived,  till  it  was  re 
duced  to  a  better  spirit,  of  the  privileges  of  a 
port.  Nor  is  it  improbable  that,  had  the 
British  ministry  proceeded  no  further  in  their 
measures  of  vengeance,  the  other  commercial 
cities  of  the  colonies  would  have  regarded 
the  humiliation  of  the  people  of  Boston  with 
indifference. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION*.  67 

But  the  attack  upon  the  charter  of  Massa 
chusetts  filled  the  bosom  of  every  North 
American  with  indignation  and  alarm.  Char 
ters  they  had  been  accustomed  to  consider  as 
inviolable  compacts  between  the  king  and 
his  people ;  but  if  these  could  be  annulled 
and  abrogated  by  parliament,  what  province 
could  deem  its  constitution  safe  from  viola 
tion  ?  And  in  the  provision  for  the  trial  in 
Great  Britain  of  individuals  accused  of  mur 
ders  committed  in  America,  they  saw  an  in 
demnity  for  every  one  who  might  avail  him 
self  of  a  plausible  pretext  to  put  to  death  any 
person  who  might  be  obnoxious  to  govern 
ment. 

Such  were  the  feelings  of  the  colonists. 
But,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  these  in 
vasions  of  the  liberties  of  fellow-subjects  were 
regarded  with  unconcern,  and  even  with  sat 
isfaction.  The  people  of  Great  Britain  gen 
erally  care  little  about  the  internal  state  of 
the  distant  possessions  of  the  crown.  They 
at  that  time  looked  up  to  parliament  with 
awe,  as  a  threefold  body  vested  with  the  at 
tribute  of  omnipotence ;  and  they  made  them 
selves  a  party  in  the  quarrel,  reprobating  the 
refractory  spirit  of  the  colonies  as  a  rebellion 
against  the  sovereign  authority,  of  which  they 
imagined  that  every  individual  Briton  had  a 
share. 


68  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


SECTION  VIII. 

REMOVAL  OF  THE  SEAT  OF  GOVERNMENT  FROM 
BOSTON. 

When  intelligence  arrived  at  Boston  of  the 
strong  proceedings  of  the  British  parliament 
and  government,  the  patriots  of  Massachu 
setts  cast  an  anxious  eye  on  the  sister  colo 
nies.  They  were  well  aware  that,  if  left  to 
themselves  at  this  awful  crisis,  they  must 
succumb  to  the  power  of  the  mother  country ; 
but  they  entertained  hopes  that  a  union  of  the 
provinces  against  what  they  regarded  as  min 
isterial  oppression,  would  rescue  their  com 
mon  liberties  from  destruction.  To  effect 
this  union  they  used  the  utmost  exertions  of 
activity,  skill,  and  prudence. 

The  opposition  to  the  stamp-act  and  to  the 
duty  on  tea,  had  been  carried  on  by  means  of 
committees  of  correspondence,  which  had  es 
tablished  links  of  connection  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  British  dependencies  in  North 
America.  Of  this  organization  they  now 
availed  themselves  with  the  utmost  prompti 
tude  ;  and,  by  the  mission  of  agents  of  consum 
mate  ability,  they  roused  the  inhabitants  of 
every  district  of  continental  America  to  a 
sense  of  their  wrongs.  Public  meetings  were 
held  in  every  township  of  every  province, 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  69 

In  which  it  was  resolved  to  make  common 
cause  with  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  and 
to  resist  the  claim  of  the  British  parliament 
to  tax  them  without  their  consent.  The  steps 
to  be  taken  in  pursuance  of  these  resolutions, 
they  unanimously  agreed  to  refer  to  a  gene 
ral  congress,  the  speedy  summoning  of  which 
they  declared  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  public  safety. 

Virginia  came  nobly  to  the  succor  of  Mas 
sachusetts  in  her  adversity.  The  house  of 
burgesses  appointed  the  first  day  of  June, 
the  day  on  which  the  Port  Bill  was  to  go  into 
effect,  as  a  day  of  "fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer,"  in  consideration  of  the  "  hostile  in 
vasion  of  the  ci$"  of  Boston,  in  our  sister 
colony  of  Massachusetts," — "  devoutly  to  im 
plore  the  divine  interposition  for  averting  the 
heavy  calamity  which  threatens  destruction 
to  our  civil  rights,  and  the  evils  of  civil  war ; 
to  give  us  one  heart  and  one  mind,  firmly  to 
oppose,  by  all  just  and  proper  means,  every 
injury  to  American  rights." 

In  the  mean  time,  General  Gage  had  ar 
rived  at  Boston,  invested  with  the  united  au 
thority  of  governor  and  commander-in-chief 
of  the  forces.  He  was  speedily  followed  by 
two  regiments  of  foot,  and  by  various  other 
detachments,  which  gradually  swelled  his  gar 
rison  to  a  number  which  was  deemed  amply 
sufficient  to  overawe  the  malcontents,  and  to 
enforce  the  execution  of  the  obnoxious  acts. 


70  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  announced  his 
intention  of  holding  the  general  court  of  the 
colony  at  Salem  after  the  1st  of  June,  the 
day  appointed  by  the  statute  for  the  com 
mencement  of  the  operation  of  the  Boston  port- 
act.  The  blow  thus  struck  seemed  to  common 
observers  to  be  fatal  to  the  inhabitants  of  that 
devoted  town.  Property  was  instantly  depreci 
ated  to  the  lowest  scale  of  value.  Houses  were 
deserted  by  their  tenants  ;  warehouses  were 
emptied  and  abandoned  ;  the  quays  were  de 
serted  ;  silence  reigned  in  the  ship-yards,  and 
thousands  of  artificers  wandered  through  the 
streets  destitute  of  employ. 

But  the  sufferers  bore  their  distresses  with 
a  sullen  resolution.  Not  a  murmur  was  heard 
against  the  democratic  leaders,  who  might  in. 
a  certain  sense  be  regarded  as  the  authors  of 
their  miseries  ;  but  their  execrations  of  the 
British  parliament  were  loud  and  violent. 
Contributions  poured  in  from  all  quarters  for 
their  relief ;  and  they  were  comforted  by  let 
ters  of  condolence  in  their  distresses,  and  of 
thanks  for  their  steadiness.  The  inhabitants 
of  Marblehead  offered  to  accommodate  the 
merchants  of  Boston  with  their  warehouses ; 
and  the  people  of  Salem,  in  an  address  to  the 
governor,  declared  that  they  could  not  "  in 
dulge  one  thought  to  seize  on  wealth,  and 
raise  their  fortunes  on  the  ruin  of  their  suffer 
ing  neighbors." 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  71 

SECTION  IX. 

FIRST  ACTS  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  AT  CONCORD. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  the  governor  held  the 
general  court  of  Massachusetts,  at  Salem ; 
but  finding  that  the  popular  leaders  were 
prepared  on  the  first  day  of  its  meeting  to 
carry  some  most  obnoxious  motions,  he  prompt 
ly  dissolved  the  assembly.  This,  however, 
he  did  not  effect  before  it  had  nominated  five 
deputies  to  meet  the  committees  of  other 
provinces  at  Philadelphia  on  the  ensuing  1st 
of  September. 

The  circumstances  attending  this  crisis 
were  rather  amusing.  Upon  the  very  open 
ing  of  the  assembly,  it  was  resolved  to  send 
deputies  to  the  proposed  general  congress. 
When  General  Gage  learned  what  the  House 
of  Representatives  were  doing  on  this  occa 
sion,  he  sent  to  dissolve  them  ;  but  they,  with 
equal  alertness,  being  informed  of  his  design, 
closed  their  doors.  Samuel  Adams  secured 
the  key,  and  they  finished  their  proceedings 
\vhile  the  proclamation  of  dissolution  was 
read  upon  the  stairs. 

The  more,  indeed,  he  exerted  himself  to 
embarrass  the  proceedings  of  the  patriots,  the 
more  decidedly  did  he  find  himself  baffled  by 
their  vigilance  and  their  ingenuity.  When, 


72  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

according  to  the  provisions  of  the  coercive 
statutes,  he  issued  a  proclamation  prohibiting 
the  calling  of  any  town  meetings  after  the  1st 
of  August,  1774,  an  assembly  of  this  kind 
was,  nevertheless,  held  ;  and,  on  his  sum 
moning  the  selectmen  to  aid  him  to  disperse 
it,  he  was  encountered  by  the  following  no 
table  specimen  of  special  pleading, — that 
the  holding  of  the  meeting  to  which  he  ob 
jected  was  no  violation  of  the  act  of  par 
liament,  "  for  that  only  prohibited  the  calling 
of  town  meetings,  and  that  no  such  call  had 
been  made  ;  a  former  legal  meeting,  before 
the  1st  of  August,  having  only  adjourned 
themselves  from  time  to  time." 

One  consequence  of  these  adjourned  meet 
ings  wras  a  "  solemn  league  and  covenant," 
whereby  the  parties  who  signed  it  bound 
themselves  "  to  suspend  all  commercial  inter 
course  with  Great  Britain  until  the  late  ob 
noxious  laws  were  repealed,  and  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts  was  restored  to  its  chartered 
rights."  A  proclamation  by  which  the  gov 
ernor  denounced  this  association  as  "  unlaw 
ful,  hostile,  and  traitorous,"  was  treated  with 
contempt.  In  another  proclamation,  publish 
ed  about  this  time,  "  for  the  encouragement 
of  piety  and  virtue,  and  for  the  prevention 
and  punishing  of  vice,  profaneness,  and  im 
morality,"  the  governor  made  especial  men 
tion  of  the  vice  of  hypocrisy,  as  a  failing 
which  the  people  were  admonished  to  eschew* 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  73 

No  doubt,  the  staff  of  General  Gage  thought 
this  an  excellent  satire  upon  the  puritanism 
of  the  Bostonians.  But  the  joke  was  ill-timed, 
and  served  only  to  add  fuel  to  the  popular 
mind,  which  was  already  in  a  high  state  of 
inflammation.  When,  in  the  month  of  Au 
gust,  Gage  attempted  to  organize  the  new 
constitution  of  the  colony,  most  of  the  coun 
sellors  whom  he  appointed  refused  to  act,  and 
the  juries  declined  to  serve  under  judges 
nominated  by  the  crown. 

Dreading  the  most  serious  consequences 
from  the  obstinacy  thus  manifested  by  the 
people  of  Massachusetts,  the  governor  thought 
it  prudent  to  fortify  Boston  Neck,  and  to  seize 
the  powder  deposited  in  the  arsenal  at  Charles- 
town,  which  is  a  kind  of  suburb  to  Boston.* 
These  measures  produced  a  general  rising 
throughout  the  province,  which  was  with 
difficulty  repressed  by  the  prudence  of  the 
leading  patriots.  This  demonstration  drove 
the  governor  and  his  revenue  officers  from 
the  new  seat  of  government  to  the  proscribed 
town  of  Boston. 

While  these  transactions  were  going  on, 
the  Congress,  or  union  of  the  several  com 
mittees,  had  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  and, 
as  the  first  fruits  of  its  deliberations,  issued  a 
declaration,  that  it  "  most  thoroughly  approv 
ed  the  wisdom  and  fortitude  with  which  op- 

*  To  which  it  is  now  united  by  a  bridge. 

7 


74  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

position  to  wicked  ministerial  measures  had 
been  hitherto  established  in  Massachusetts  ; 
and  recommended  perseverance  in  the  same 
firm  and  temperate  conduct,  as  expressed  in 
the  resolutions  of  the  delegates  from  the 
county  of  Suffolk." 

The  tenor  of  these  resolutions  was,  that 
no  obedience  was  due  to  the  restraining  stat 
utes.  Emboldened  by  the  approbation  of 
Congress  to  act  up  to  the  spirit  of  these  reso 
lutions,  a  provincial  assembly,  held  at  Con 
cord,  of  which  Mr.  Hancock  was  president, 
after  having  in  vain  solicited  the  governor  to 
desist  from  constructing  a  fortress  at  the  en 
trance  into  Boston,  in  defiance  of  his  excel 
lency's  authority,  appointed  a  committee  to 
draw  up  a  plan  for  the  arming  of  the  prov 
ince.  The  members  of  this  committee  did  not 
shrink  from  the  discharge  of  their  perilous 
duty.  They  gave  instructions  for  the  organ 
izing  of  a  species  of  partisans,  under  the 
name  of  minute-men,  the  command  of  whom 
was  conferred  on  Jedediah  Preble,  Artemas 
Ward,  and  Seth  Porneroy,  warriors  whose  pu 
ritanical  names  gave  ominous  foreboding  of 
a  determination  of  purpose  and  of  an  obsti 
nacy  of  valor,  which  their  future  conduct  did 
not  belie. 

The  assembling  of  the  militia  was  delega 
ted  to  a  committee  of  safety ;  and  a  commit 
tee  of  supply  was  authorized  to  expend  the 
sum  of  £15,000  sterling,  in  provisions,  mili- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  75 

tary  accoutrements,  and  stores,  which  were 
accordingly  provided,  and  deposited  at  Wor 
cester  and  Concord.  At  a  later  meeting  of 
the  provincial  congress,  still  bolder  measures 
were  adopted.  Resolutions  were  then  passed 
to  raise  an  army  of  12,000  men,  and  delegates 
were  sent  to  the  adjacent  colonies  to  urge 
them  to  increase  these  forces  to  the  number 
of  20,000. 

It  was,  moreover,  determined  that  the  Brit 
ish  troops  should  be  attacked  if  they  marched 
in  field  equipment  beyond  Boston  Neck.  A 
circular  letter  was  also  issued  requesting  the 
clergy  to  aid  the  common  cause  by  their 
prayers  and  exhortations.  At  this  crisis  the 
situation  of  the  governor  was  far  from  being 
an  enviable  one.  The  reins  of  authority  had 
fallen  from  his  hands,  and  had  been  seized  by 
the  provincial  congress,  whose  resolutions 
had  throughout  the  province  the  force  of 
laws. 

At  the  approach  of  winter  he  experienced 
the  utmost  difficulty  in  procuring  materials  or 
workmen  to  construct  barracks  for  the  shel 
tering  of  his  troops.  The  straw  which  he 
purchased  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  was  set 
on  fire,  and  the  timber  which  he  had  bought 
for  the  king's  stores  was  seized  or  destroyed. 
Nor  was  the  spirit  of  open  resistance  confined 
to  Boston.  In  Rhode  Island  the  people  seized 
the  public  battery  of  forty  pieces  of  cannon, 
and  stormed  and  took  the  castle  of  Ports- 


76  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

mouth,  where  they  obtained  a  seasonable  sup 
ply  of  powder. 


SECTION  X. 

OPENING  OF  THE  CONGRESS  AT  PHILADELPHIA. 

These  active  measures,  which  amounted  to 
a  direct  levying  of  war  against  the  king,  were 
provoked  by  the  rigor  exercised  against  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  deputies  of  eleven  provinces  had  assem 
bled  in  congress  at  Philadelphia,  and  were 
soon  joined  by  delegates  from  North  Carolina. 
Peyton  Randolph  was  chosen  president  of  this 
assembly,  and  Charles  Thomson  was  appoint 
ed  its  secretary. 

After  a  slight  controversy  as  to  the  mode 
of  voting,  which  was  at  length  del  ermined  to 
be  taken  by  provinces,  each  province  having 
one  vote,  the  members  proceeded  with  the 
utmost  zeal  and  harmony  to  the  arduous  bu 
siness  before  them.  In  the  first  place,  they 
issued  a  declaration  of  rights,  in  which,  while 
they  claimed  a  total  exemption  from  any 
species  of  internal  taxation  imposed  by  the 
British  parliament,  they  professed  their  wil 
lingness  to  obey  all  the  laws  which  might  be 
enacted  in  the  mother  country  for  the  regula 
tion  of  trade.  They  protested  against  the 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  77 

introduction  of  a  standing  army  into  the  col 
onies  without  their  consent,  as  also  against 
the  violation  of  their  chartered  rights  in  the 
infringement  of  their  ancient  constitutions. 

Enumerating  the  several  acts  by  which 
they  were  aggrieved,  they  declared  that  till 
these  acts  were  repealed,  they  and  their  con 
stituents  would  hold  no  commercial  inter 
course  with  Britain ;  and  with  a  view  of 
overawing  the  weak  and  the  wavering,  and 
the  partisans  of  royal  authority  among  their 
countrymen,  they  resolved  that  committees 
should  be  chosen  in  every  county,  city,  and 
town,  to  observe  the  conduct  of  all  people 
touching  the  suspension  of  trade  with  the 
mother  country,  and  to  publish,  in  gazettes, 
the  names  of  those  who  violated  this  ordi 
nance,  as  foes  to  the  rights  of  British  Amer 
ica. 

They  also  agreed  upon  an  address  to  the 
British  people,  vindicating  their  resistance  to 
-oppression  ;  and  two  memorials  to  the  West 
India  colonies  and  to  the  people  of  Canada, 
exhorting  them  to  unite  with  their  persecuted 
brethren  in  a  steady  opposition  to  the  encroach 
ments  of  arbitrary  power.  In  laying  their 
grievances  before  the  throne,  in  a  petition  to 
the  king,  they  professed  sentiments  of  loyalty 
to  his  majesty's  person  and  authority ;  but 
complained  of  the  miseries  which  had  been 
brought  upon  them  by  the  maladministration 

of  wicked  ministers. 

7* 


78  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

"  We  ask,"  said  they,  "  but  for  peace,  liber 
ty,  and  safety.  We  wish  not  a  diminution  of 
the  prerogative,  nor  do  we  solicit  the  grant 
of  any  new  right  in  our  favor.  Your  royal 
authority  over  us,  and  our  connection  with 
Great  Britain,  we  shall  always  carefully  and 
zealously  endeavor  to  support  and  maintain." 
This  address  to  the  sovereign  concluded  in 
the  following  pathetic  terms.  "  We  implore 
your  majesty,  for  the  honor  of  Almighty  God, 
for  your  own  glory,  for  the  interest  of  your 
family,  for  the  safety  of  your  kingdoms  and 
dominions,  that,  as  the  loving  father  of  your 
whole  people,  connected  by  the  same  bonds 
of  law,  loyalty,  faith,  and  blood,  though 
dwelling  in  various  countries,  you  will  not 
suffer  the  transcendent  relation  formed  by 
these  ties  to  be  further  violated  by  uncertain 
expectation  of  effects,  which,  if  attained,  never 
could  compensate  for  the  calamities  through 
which  they  must  be  gained." 

These  various  documents  were  drawn  up 
with  great  judgment  and  ability ;  and  their 
dissemination  throughout  the  union  produced 
a  powerful  effect  upon  the  feelings  of  the 
people,  preparing  them  for  the  most  strenuous 
exertions  in  what  they  deemed  to  be  the 
cause  of  justice  and  freedom. 

Their  framers,  however,  did  not  rely  upon 
their  eloquence  alone,  to  produce  an  effect 
favorable  to  their  cause  upon  the  people  of 
Britain.  Their  non-importation  agreements 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  79 

had  produced  the  repeal  of  the  stamp-act,  and 
they  trusted  that  the  annunciation  of  similar 
resolutions  would  produce  similar  effects  as 
to  the  removal  of  their  late  parliamentary 
grievances. 

The  event  proved  that  they  were  mistaken. 
The  merchants  trading  to  America  composed 
a  small  fraction  of  the  British  community. 
A  hostile  ministry  was  all-powerful  in  parlia 
ment — the  pride  of  the  king  was  touched — • 
every  individual  Briton,  in  whose  mouth  the 
phrase  our  colonies  was  familiar,  deemed  him 
self,  in  some  sort,  sovereign  over  the  North 
American  plantations,  and  a  cry  almost  unan 
imous  was  raised  throughout  the  nation,  that 
the  mutinous  contemners  of  the  omnipotence 
of  the  legislature  of  the  parent  state,  must 
be  reduced  to  obedience  by  the  strong  hand 
of  coercion. 

The  Congress,  after  a  session  of  about  eight 
weeks,  and  after  passing  a  resolution  for  the 
calling  of  another  assembly  of  the  same  na 
ture,  if  necessary,  in  the  ensuing  May,  dis 
solved  themselves ;  and  the  members  pro 
ceeded  to  further,  in  their  respective  prov 
inces,  the  cause  in  which  they  were  thus  de 
cidedly  embarked.  By  their  influence,  ope 
rating  upon  minds  ready  prepared  by  perpet 
ual  discussions,  both  public  and  private,  of 
the  wrongs  of  the  colonies,  the  recommenda 
tions  of  an  assembly,  invested  with  no  legal 
authority,  obtained  the  force  of  laws.  The 


80  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

non-intercourse  agreements  were  zealously 
adopted  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people  ; 
and  the  few  who  ventured  to  dissent  from 
the  general  voice,  were  proscribed  as  ene 
mies  to  their  country. 

Lord  Chatham,  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
passed  upon  the  congress,  of  Philadelphia 
this  noble  eulogium.  "  For  myself,  I  must  de 
clare  and  avow,  that  in  all  my  reading  and 
observation — and  history  has  been  my  favor 
ite  study — I  have  read  Thucydides  and  have 
studied  and  admired  the  master  states  of  the 
world — that  for  solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of 
sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion,  no  nation 
or  body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the 
general  congress  of  Philadelphia." 


SECTION  XI. 

ADDRESS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS,  9TH  OF 
FEBRUARY,  1775. 

When  the  petition  from  Congress  to  the 
king  arrived  in  England,  his  majesty  had  just 
met  a  new  parliament,  to  which  he  had  com 
municated  information,  in  a  speech  from  the 
throne,  "  that  a  most  daring  spirit  of  resist 
ance  and  disobedience  to  the  laws  unhappily 
prevailed  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts ;" 
and  at  the  same  time  intimated  that  he  had 
taken  the  requisite  steps  to  repress  it. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  81 

Notwithstanding  this  angry  demonstration, 
hopes  were,  for  a  short  time,  entertained  by 
the  friends  of  America  that  ministers  would 
adopt  measures  of  conciliation.  The  secre 
tary  of  state,  after  submitting  the  petition  of 
the  general  congress  to  the  cabinet  council, 
presented  it  to  the  king,  by  whom,  as  he  re 
ported,  it  was  graciously  received,  and  was 
intended  to  be  laid  by  him  before  his  two 
houses  of  parliament ;  numerous  petitions 
from  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the 
principal  towns  in  the  kingdom,  and  from  the 
West  India  planters,  prayed  for  the  adoption 
of  a  more  lenient  policy  towards  the  North 
American  colonies  ;  all  the  eloquence  of  Lord 
Chatham  was  exerted  in  the  House  of  Peers 
to  'effect  the  same  object ;  yet  Lord  North 
was  determined  to  proceed  in  the  course  of 
coercion. 

The  Rubicon  was  passed  on  the  9th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1775,  by  the  presentation  by  both 
houses  of  a  joint  address  to  the  king,  in  which 
they  stated  it  as  their  opinion,  that  "  a  rebel 
lion  actually  existed  in  the  province  of  Mas 
sachusetts  ;"  and,  in  the  usual  style,  offered  to 
hazard  their  lives  and  fortunes, "  in  the  main 
tenance  of  the  just  rights  of  his  majesty  and 
the  two  houses  of  parliament."  In  support 
of  this  address,  an  addition  was  voted  to  the 
military  force,  of  4,383  rank  and  file,  and 
2,000  seamen. 

An  act  was  also  passed  to  restrain  the  com- 


82  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

merce  of  the  eastern  colonies  to  Great  Britain 
Ireland,  and  the  British  West  Indies  ;  and  to 
prevent  them  from  fishing  on  the  Banks  of 
Newfoundland,  under  certain  conditions,  and 
for  a  limited  time.  The  provisions  of  this 
act  were  soon  afterwards  extended  to  the 
provinces  of  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Mary 
land,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  New  York,  Dele- 
ware,  and  North  Carolina,  did  not  on  this  occa 
sion  fall  under  the  ban  of  ministerial  interdic 
tion.  New  York,  where  the  government  had 
more  influence  than  in  other  colonies,  had  been 
tardy  in  joining  the  union ;  and  Lord  North 
flattered  himself  that,  by  forbearing  to  include 
that  and  the  other  two  colonies  abovemen- 
tioned  in  the  restraining  act,  he  should  sow 
among  the  associated  provinces  jealousies 
which  would  dissolve  their  connection ;  but 
in  this  he  was  disappointed. 

So  powerful  was  the  spirit  of  patriotism  in 
America,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  exempted 
colonies  disdained  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
privileges  which  were  reserved  to  them, 
and  determined  to  share  in  the  restrictions 
imposed  on  their  brethren ;  and  it  was  with 
severe  mortification  that  the  premier  soon  af 
terwards  witnessed  the  presentation  to  the 
House  of  Commons  of  a  petition  and  remon 
strance  from  the  assembly  of  New  York, 
claiming  exemption  from  internal  taxation, 
and  protesting  against  the  dependence  of 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  83 

governors  and  judges  on  the  crown  for  their 
salaries  and  emoluments. 

A  hearing  had  been  refused  to  the  petition 
of  Congress,  though  it  was  individually  sign 
ed,  under  the  pretext  that  it  emanated  from 
an  illegal  meeting.  The  remonstrance  of  the 
New  York  assembly  was  not  liable  to  this 
objection  ;  but  when  a  motion  was  made  in 
the  House  of  Commons  that  it  should  be 
brought  up,  it  was  lost  by  a  stratagem  of 
Lord  North. 

On  the  20th  of  February,  1775,  some  time 
previously  to  the  transaction  which  has  just 
been  related,  his  lordship  had  manifested 
some  cunning,  but  little  wisdom,  in  propos 
ing  a  resolution  to  the  effect,  that  when  any 
of  the  colonies  or  provinces  in  America 
should  make  provision  for  contributing  their 
proportion  to  the  common  defence,  and  for 
the  support  of  their  civil  government,  (such 
proportion  to  be  raised  under  the  authority 
of  the  general  court  or  general  assembly  of 
such  province  and  colony,)  "  it  will  be  proper 
to  forbear  in  respect  of  such  colony  or  prov 
ince,  to  levy  any  duty  or  tax,  except  such  du 
ties  as  may  arise  for  the  regulation  of  com 
merce,  which  duties  are  to  be  carried  to  the 
account  of  such  colony  or  province." 

The  bill  founded  on  this  resolution  was  vio 
lently  opposed  by  certain  of  the  prime  minis 
ter's  habitual  partisans,  who  insisted  on  it 
that  the  colonies  should  be  taxed  directly  by 


84  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

the  British  parliament.  It  was  also  attacked 
by  the  opposition,  who  argued  that  as  it  re 
served  to  the  British  government  the  right  of 
apportioning  the  respective  proportions  which 
the  provinces  should  raise  for  the  general 
service,  and  left  the  disposal  of  the  sums 
raised  to  parliament,  it  mattered  little  that 
the  immediate  application  of  the  scourge  of 
taxation  should  be  left  to  the  colonial  assem 
blies,  who  would  regard  the  bill  as  an  insult 
and  a  wrong. 

The  opposition  made  a  right  estimate  of 
the  feelings  of  the  Americans.  The  bill  pass 
ed  into  a  law ;  but  it  was  received  through 
out  the  Union  with  abhorrence  and  contempt. 

It  was  in  this  session,  viz.  on  the  22d  of 
March,  1775,  that  Mr.  Burke  made  his  cele 
brated  speech  for  conciliation  with  America, 
— a  speech  fraught  with  statesman-like  views, 
expressed  in  language  at  once  temperate  and 
eloquent.  At  the  commencement  of  this 
deeply-studied  oration,  Mr.  Burke,  after  ob 
serving  that  all  former  measures  recommend 
ed  by  the  ministry  and  adopted  by  parliament 
had  served  to  no  other  purpose  but  to  keep 
America  in  a  state  of  agitation,  intimated 
that  it  had  been  observed  to  him  by  an  intel 
ligent  friend,  that,  instead  of  limiting  himself 
to  criticisms  on  the  plans  of  government,  it 
was  highly  expedient  that  he  should  produce 
a  plan  of  his  own. 

Though  he  was  aware,  said  he,  that  it  ar 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  85 

gues  little  knowledge  to  hazard  plans  of  gov 
ernment,  except  from  a  seat  of  authority,  yet, 
as  public  calamity  was  a  migthy  leveller,  he 
would  now  act  upon  his  friend's  suggestion. 
"  My  proposition,"  proceeded  he,  "  is  peace  ; 
not  peace  through  the  medium  of  war  ;  nor 
peace  to  be  hunted  through  the  labyrinth  of 
intricate  and  endless  negotiations  ;  nor  peace 
to  arise  out  of  universal  discord,  fomented 
from  principle  in  all  parts  of  the  empire  ;  not 
peace  to  depend  upon  the  juridical  determi 
nation  of  perplexing  questions,  or  the  precise 
marking  of  the  shadowy  boundaries  of  a  com 
plex  government.  It  is  simple  peace,  sought 
in  its  natural  course  and  in  its  ordinary 
haunts, — it  is  peace  sought  in  the  spirit  of 
peace,  and  laid  in  principles  purely  pacific. 

"  I  propose,  by  removing  the  ground  of  the 
difference,  and  by  restoring  the  former  unsus 
pecting  confidence  of  the  colonies  in  the 
mother  country,  to  give  permanent  satisfac 
tion  to  your  people,  and,  far  from  a  scheme 
of  ruling  by  discord,  to  reconcile  them  to 
each  other  in  the  same  act,  and  by  the  bond 
of  the  very  same  interest  which  reconciles 
them  to  British  government." 

After  laying  down  and  enforcing  the  posi 
tion  that  the  proposal  for  reconciliation  ought, 
in  consideration  of  her  strength,  to  come 
from  Great  Britain,  Mr.  Burke  asserted,  that 
the  plan  for  conciliation  ought  to  be  guided, 
not  by  abstract  theory,  but  by  a  regard  to 
8 


86  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

circumstances.  What,  then,  were  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  present  case  ?  In  the  first 
place,  the  discontented  Americans  amounted 
in  number  to  two  millions,  a  number  which, 
considered  in  mass, could  not  be  regarded  "as 
a  paltry  excrescence  of  the  state,  or  a  mean 
dependant,  who  may  be  neglected  with  little 
damage,  and  provoked  with  little  danger." 
But,  with  the  consideration  of  the  population 
of  America,  it  was  requisite  to  combine  ma 
ture  reflection  upon  other  circumstances  ;  as, 
for  instance,  the  commerce,  the  agriculture, 
and  the  fisheries  of  the  colonies. 

As  to  commerce,  Mr.  Burke  proved,  by 
documentary  evidence,  that,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  of  six  millions  which  consti 
tuted  the  whole  mass  of  the  export  com 
merce  of  Great  Britain,  the  colony  trade  was 
but  one  twelfth  part ;  but  that,  by  the  last 
returns  submitted  to  parliament,  it  appeared 
that,  as  a  part  of  sixteen  millions,  it  consti 
tuted  considerably  more  than  a  third  of  the 
whole.  In  agriculture,  he  asserted  that  Amer 
ica  was  so  prosperous  that  she  was  enabled 
to  export  vast  quantities  of  grain  for  the  sup 
ply  of  the  mother  country. 

As  to  the  third  head  of  consideration,  "  no 
sea,"  exclaimed  the  orator,  "  but  is  vexed  by 
the  fisheries  of  the  colonists,  no  climate  that 
is  not  witness  to  their  toils.  Neither  the  per 
severance  of  Holland,  nor  the  activity  of 
France,  nor  the  dexterous  and  firm  sagacity 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  87 

of  English  enterprise,  ever  carried  this  most 
perilous  mode  of  hardy  industry  to  the  extent 
to  which  it  has  been  pushed  by  this  recent 
people, — a  people  who  are  still,  as  it  were, 
but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hardened  into 
the  bone  of  manhood." 

But,  continued  Mr.  Burke,  some  persons 
will  say,  such  a  country  is  worth  fighting  for, 
—true, — but  fighting  will  not  retain  it.  Force 
is  uncertain,  and,  if  successful,  it  will  depre 
ciate  the  object  gained.  He  warned  the 
House  to  consider  the  temper  and  character 
of  the  people  with  whom  many  ill-advised 
individuals  seemed  so  eager  to  contend.  The 
North  American  colonists  were  jealous  of 
their  liberties.  Their  jealousy  as  to  their 
rights  they  derived  from  their  English  origin ; 
it  was  nursed  by  their  popular  legislatures, — 
it  was  also  nursed  by  their  religion.  The 
great  body  of  the  colonists  were  dissenters, 
and  the  dissenting  interests  have  sprung  up 
in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  ordinary  powers 
of  the  world,  and  can  justify  that  opposition 
only  on  a  strong  claim  to  natural  liberty. 

"  All  protestantism,"  Mr.  Burke  acutely  re 
marked, — "  All  protestantism,  even  the  most 
cold  and  passive,  is  a  sort  of  dissent.  But 
the  religion  most  prevalent  in  our  northern 
colonies,  is  a  refinement  on  the  principle  of 
resistance  ;  it  is  the  dissidence  of  dissent,  and 
the  protestantism  of  the  protestant  religion." 

The  spirit  of  freedom  was,  moreover,  nm> 


88  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

tured  in  the  colonies,  in  general,  by  education ; 
and  in  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  by  that 
pride  which  uniformly  actuates  the  holders 
of  slaves,  "  to  whom  freedom  is  not  only  an 
enjoyment,  but  a  kind  of  rank  and  privilege." 
Their  distance  from  the  mother  country  like 
wise  rendered  the  colonists  less  disposed  to 
submit  to  the  dictation  of  the  parent  state. 
This  happens  in  all  forms  into  which  empire 
can  be  thrown.  In  large  bodies  the  circula 
tion  of  power  must  be  less  vigorous  at  the 
extremities."  A  proud  spirit  of  liberty  hav 
ing  from  these  various  causes  been  infused 
throughout  the  colonies,  in  consequence  of 
which  they  have  not  only  disobeyed  our  au 
thority,  but  established  an  efficient  authority 
of  their  own,  by  means  of  which  a  vast  prov 
ince  has  subsisted  for  near  a  twelvemonth* 
without  governor,  without  public  council, 
without  judges,  without  executive  magis 
trates,  the  question  arises,  how  is  this  spirit 
to  be  encountered  ? 

Some  politicians  have,  in  this  emergency, 
proposed  to  check  the  population  of  the  colo 
nies  by  stopping  the  grant  of  more  lands  by 
the  crown.  Others  have  advised  that  their 
maritime  enterprises  should  be  checked  by 
the  severity  of  restrictive  laws ;  while  a  third 
class  of  counsellors  are  sanguine  in  their  ex 
pectations,  that  the  Virginians  and  the  plant 
ers  of  the  Carolinas  will  speedily  be  reduced 
to  submission  by  the  emancipation  of  their 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  89 

slaves.  Some,  again,  went  so  far  as  to  talk 
of  prosecuting  the  refractory  as  criminals. 

After  demonstrating  at  length  the  futility 
of  these  proposals,  Mr.  Burke  affirmed,  that 
the  only  method  left  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
existing  troubles,  was  that  of  conciliation. 
The  Americans,  said  he,  complain  of  taxa 
tion, — I  will  not  on  this  matter  dispute  the 
point  of  right,  but  that  of  policy.  "  The 
question  is  not  whether  you  have  a  right  to 
render  your  people  miserable,  but  whether  it 
is  not  your  interest  to  make  them  happy.  It 
is  not  what  a  lawyer  may  tell  you,  you  may 
do,  but  what  humanity,  reason,  and  justice 
declare  you  ought  to  do." 

Having  thus  laid  down  the  principle  of  his 
plan,  Mr.  Burke  began  to  open  it  by  declar 
ing,  that  his  main  object  was  to  admit  the 
people  of  the  colonies  to  an  interest  in  the 
constitution.  The  fact  was,  that  the  Ameri 
cans  did  not  object  to  the  laws  of  trade  ;  nor 
did  they  aim  at  any  thing  more  than  a  re 
lease  from  taxation,  imposed  upon  them  by  a 
legislative  body  in  which  their  interests  are 
not  guarded  by  their  representatives.  Simi 
lar  uneasiness  was  for  a  long  time  prevalent 
in  .Ireland,  in  Wales,  and  in  the  counties  pal 
atine  of  Chester  and  Durham. 

Now  the  agitations  of  Ireland  were  quelled 
by  the  establishment  of  a  separate  legislature 
for  that  country,  while  the  feuds  which  pre 
vailed  in  Chester  and  Durham  were  annihi- 


90  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

lated  by  the  admission  of  representatives  of 
those  counties  into  the  English  parliament. 
Let  a  similar  policy  then  be  exercised  towards 
America.  In  her  case,  let  taxation  and  rep 
resentation  go  hand  in  hand.  But  the  dis 
tance  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother 
country  precludes  the  Americans  from  send 
ing  representatives  to  the  British  legisla 
ture. 

What  remains,  then,  but  to  recognise  for 
the  theory  the  ancient  constitution  and  policy 
of  this  kingdom  with  regard  to  representation, 
and  as  to  the  practice,  to  return  to  that  mode 
which  a  uniform  experience  has  marked  out 
to  you  as  best,  and  in  which  you  walked  with 
security,  advantage,  and  honor,  until  the  year 
1763.  "  My  resolutions,  therefore,"  continued 
Mr.  Burke,  "  mean  to  establish  the  equity  and 
justice  of  a  taxation  of  America  by  grant,  and 
not  by  imposition  ;  to  mark  the  legal  compe 
tency  of  the  colony  assemblies  for  the  sup 
port  of  their  government  in  peace,  and  for 
the  public  aids  in  the  time  of  war  ;  to  ac 
knowledge  that  this  legal  competency  has 
had  a  dutiful  and  beneficial  exercise,  and 
that  experience  has  shown  the  benefit  of  their 
grants,  and  the  futility  of  parliamentary  tax 
ation  as  a  measure  of  supply." 

After  opening  these  points  at  considerable 
length,  and  with  transcendent  ability,  Mr. 
Burke  concluded  by  moving  a  series  of  reso 
lutions,  in  which  their  substance  was  embod- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  91 

ied.  This  masterly  speech,  in  the  meditation 
and  composition  of  which  Mr.  Burke,  in  the 
earnestness  of  his  wish  to  point  out  to  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  the  true 
line  of  colonial  policy,  seems  to  have  chasten 
ed  and  checked  the  exuberance  of  his  genius, 
was  spoken  to  the  members  alone,  as  during 
the  debate  the  standing  orders  for  the  exclu 
sion  of  strangers  were  strictly  enforced. 

It  was  answered  by  Mr.  Jenkinson,  who 
professed  serious  alarm  at  the  proposition, 
that  any  public  body,  save  parliament,  was 
entitled  to  make  grants  of  money  to  the 
crown.  These  constitutional  scruples  had 
their  due  weight,  and  Mr.  Burke's  resolutions 
were  negatived  by  a  majority  of  270  to  78. 

About  this  time,  Dr.  Franklin,  in  a  kind  of 
demi-official  communication  with  ministers, 
endeavored  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
the  colonies  and  the  parent  state.  In  the  dis 
cussions  which  took  place  with  this  view  be 
tween  the  doctor  and  the  agents  of  the  min 
istry,  most  of  the  points  in  dispute  were  set 
tled  ;  but  the  obstinate  refusal  of  the  cabinet 
to  restore  the  ancient  constitution  of  Massa 
chusetts  broke  off  the  conferences  ;  and  Dr. 
Franklin,  despairing  of  the  preservation  of 
peace,  returned  to  his  native  land,  determined 
to  share  the  fortunes  of  his  countrymen,  and, 
at  all  hazards,  to  devote  his  talents  to  the 
maintenance  of  their  rights. 

In  America,  the  approaching  conflict   be- 


92  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

came  daily  more  apparent.  Boston,  as  the 
head-quarters  of  the  army,  was  particularly 
exposed  to  collisions  with  them ;  and  in  anti 
cipation,  every  exertion  was  made  to  procure 
arms  and  ammunition.  Cannon,  cannon  balls, 
powder,  muskets,  and  military  stores,  were 
constantly  introduced  into  the  city  by  every 
artifice,  and  in  every  disguise.  In  New 
Hampshire  a  number  of  armed  people  seized 
on  the  powder  in  the  royal  castle  of  William 
and  Mary.  Colonel  Leslie,  who  had  been 
dispatched  by  Governor  Gage  to  seize  some 
cannon  at  Salem,  was  obstructed  by  the  citi 
zens  until  the  cannon  were  removed  beyond 
his  reach,  and  he  returned  without  succeed 
ing  in  his  object ;  and  in  New  York  a  riotous 
combat  took  place  between  the  populace  and 
the  troops,  in  which  the  latter  were  beaten. 


SECTION  XII. 

AFFAIR  AT  LEXINGTON,  19TH  OF  APRIL,  1775. 

It  has  already  been  stated,  that  the  Mas 
sachusetts  patriots  had  resolved  to  attack 
the  king's  forces  whenever  they  should  march 
out  of  Boston.  On  the  19th  of  April,  1775, 
their  adherence  to  this  resolution  was  put  to 
the  test.  With  a  view  of  seizing  the  military 
stores  and  provisions  which  the  insurgents 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  93 

had  collected  at  Concord,  General  Gage,  on 
the  night  preceding  that  eventful  day,  de 
tached  from  his  garrison  800  picked  men, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
Smith. 

These  troops  made  a  rapid  march  to  the 
place  of  their  destination,  in  hopes  of  taking 
the  malcontents  by  surprise;  but  notwith 
standing  their  precautions,  the  alarm  was 
given  throughout  the  country,  and  the  inhab 
itants  flew  to  arms.  Between  four  and  five 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  19th,  the  ad 
vanced  guard  of  the  royal  troops  arrived  at 
Lexington,  where  they  found  about  70  of  the 
American  militia  under  arms,  whom  Major 
Pitcairn  ordered  to  disperse  ;  and  on  their 
hesitating  to  obey  his  commands,  that  officer 
discharged  his  pistol,  and  ordered  his  soldiers 
to  fire. 

By  the  volley  which  ensued  three  or  four  of 
the  militia  were  killed,  and  the  rest  put  to 
flight.  Lieutenant-colonel  Smith  then  pro 
ceeded  to  Concord,  where  he  destroyed  the 
stores  of  the  insurgents,  and  then  commenced 
his  retreat  towards  Boston.  He  was  not, 
however,  permitted  to  make  this  retrograde 
movement  without  molestation.  Before  he 
left  Concord  he  was  attacked  by  the  Ameri 
can  militia  and  minute-men,  who  accumula 
ting  by  degrees,  harassed  his  rear  and  flanks, 
taking  advantage  of  every  inequality  of 
ground,  and  especially  availing  themselves  of 


94  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


\ 


the  stone  walls  which  skirted  the  road,  and 
which  served  them  as  intrenchments. 

Had  not  the  detachment  been  met  at  Lex 
ington  by  a  body  of  900  men,  which  General 
Gage  had  sent  out  to  its  support,  under  the 
command  of  Lord  Percy,  it  would  certainly 
have  been  cut  off.  The  united  British  forces 
arrived,  wearied  and  exhausted,  at  Bunker 
Hill,  near  Boston,  a  little  after  sunset,  hav 
ing  sustained  a  loss  of  65  killed,  180  wound 
ed,  and  28  prisoners.* 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  hand-bill  issued  immedi 
ately  after  the  engagement  at  Concord  and  Lexington. 

i  A  List  of  the  Names  of  the  Provincials  who  were  killed 
and  wounded  in  the  late  engagement  with  his  Majesty's 
troops  at  Concord,  $c. 

KILLED. 

Of  Lexington.  Of  Danvers. 

*  Mr.  Robert  Munroe,  Mr.  Henry  Jacobs, 

*  Mr.  Jonas  Parker,  Mr.  Samuel  Cook, 

*  Mr.  Samuel  Hadley,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Goldthwait, 

*  Mr.  Jonathan  Harrington,  Mr.  George  Southwick, 

*  Mr.  Caleb  Harrington,  Mr.  Benjamin  Daland,  jun. 

*  Mr.  Isaac  Muzzy,  Mr.  Jotham  Webb, 

*  Mr.  John  Brown,  Mr.  Perley  Putnam. 
Mr.  John  Raymond, 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Wyman,  Of  Salem. 

Mr.  Jedediah  Munroe.  Mr.  Benjamin  Pierce. 

OfMenotomy.  Of  Charlestown. 

™r*  TaK°n  w        '  Mr.  James  Miller, 

Mr.  Jabez  Wyman,  c        wmiam  Barber,g  ^ 

Mr.  Jason  Winship. 

Of  Sudbury.  Of  Brookline. 

Deacon  Haynes,  Isaac  Gardner,  Esq. 

Mr. Reed. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  95 

When   Lord   Percy,  on  his    advance,  was 
marching  through  Roxbury,  his  military  band, 

Of  Concord.  Of  Cambridge. 

Capt.  James  Miles.  Mr.  John  Hicks, 

Mr.  Moses  Richardson, 

Of  Bedford.  Mr.  William  Massey. 

Capt.  Jonathan  Willson. 

Of  Medford. 

Of  Acton.  Mr.  Henry  Putnam. 

Capt.  Davis, 

Mr. Hosmer,  Of  Lynn. 

Mr.  James  Howard.  Mr.  Abednego  Ramsdelt, 

Mr.  Daniel  Townsend, 
Of  Woburn.  Mr.  William  Flint, 

*  Mr.  Azael  Porter,  Mr.  Thomas  Hadley. 

Mr.  Daniel  Thompson. 

WOUNDED. 

Of  Lexington.  Of  Medford. 

Mr.  John  Robbins,  Mr.  William  Polly. 

Mr.  John  Tidd, 

Mr.  Solomon  Pierce,  Of  Lynn. 

Mr.  Thomas  Winship,  Mr.  Joshua  Felt, 

Mr.  Nathaniel  Farmer,  Mr.  Timothy  Munroe. 

Mr.  Joseph  Comee, 

Mr.  Ebenezer  Munroe,  Of  Danvers. 

Mr.  Francis  Brown,  Mr.  Nathan  Putnam, 

Prince  Easterbrooks,  (a  ne-     Mr.  Dennis  Wallis. 
gro  man.) 

Of  Beverly. 

Of  Framingliam.  Mr>  Nathaniel  Cleaves. 

Mr. Hemenway. 

Of  Bedford. 
Mr  John  Lane,  MISSING. 

Of  Woburn.  Of  Menotomy. 

Mr.  George  Reed,  Mr.  Samuel  Frost, 

Mr.  Jacob  Bacon.  Mr.  Seth  Russel. 

Those  distinguished  with  this  mark  [*]  were  killed  by  the 
first  fire  of  the  Regulars. 


96  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

in  derision  of  the  Americans,  played  the  tune 
of  "  Yankee  Doodle."  His  lordship  observed 
a  youth  who  appeared  to  be  amused  at  this 
circumstance,  and  asking  him  why  he  laugh 
ed,  received  this  answer, — "  To  think  how 
you  will  dance  by-and-by  to  the  tune  of 
*  Chevy  Chase/"  It  had  been  too  much  the 
habit  of  the  British  to  despise  and  insult  the 
Americans  as  cowards ;  but  the  event  of  the 
march  to  Concord  convinced  them  that  the 
Massachusetts  men  were  not  deficient  either 
in  personal  courage  or  in  individual  skill  in 
the  use  of  arms. 

The  results  were  of  the  greatest  moment. 
The  blow  had  been  struck  by  which  open 
war  was  commenced,  under  circumstances 
that  aroused  the  universal  indignation  of  the 
Americans,  while  the  issue  invigorated  their 
spirits.  They  had  rallied  in  great  numbers 
at  the  signal  of  strife,  and  driven  the  regu 
lars  with  loss,  after  baffling  the  object  of  their 
expedition. 


SECTION  XIII. 

BATTLE  OF  BUNKER  HILL,  16TH  OF  JUNE,  1775. 

Blood  having  been  thus  drawn,  the  whole 
of  the  discontented  colonies  took  prompt 
measures  to  resist  the  royal  authority  by  force 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  97 

of  arms.  Volunteers  enrolled  themselves  in 
every  province ;  and  throughout  the  whole 
Union  the  king's  stores  were  seized  for  the 
use  of  the  insurgents.  The  surprisal  of  Ti- 
conderoga  and  Crown  Point  by  a  party  from 
Connecticut,  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Allen,  furnished  them  with  upwards  of  100 
pieces  of  cannon,  and  a  proportionable  quan 
tity  of  ammunition.  Troops  were  gradually 
assembled  in  the  towns  and  villages  in  the 
vicinity  of  Boston,  so  as  to  hold  that  town  in 
a  state  of  blockade.  About  the  latter  end 
of  May,  General  Gage  was  reinforced  by  the 
troops  which  had  been  sent  from  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  which  were  accompanied  by  Gene 
rals  Howe,  Burgoyne,  and  Clinton. 

Finding  himself  thus  strengthened,  he  pre 
pared  for  active  operations  ;  but  wishing  ta 
temper  justice  with  mercy,  on  the  12th  of 
June  he  issued  a  proclamation,  offering  par 
don  to  all  who  would  lay  down  their  arms, 
with  the  exception  of  Samuel  Adams  and 
John  Hancock, "  whose  offences,"  he  declared, 
"  were  of  too  flagitious  a  nature  to  admit  of 
any  other  consideration  than  that  of  condign 
punishment." 

This  proclamation  produced  ho  effect  on 
the  Americans,  save  that  of  rousing  them  to 
more  vigorous  exertions.  On  Charlestown 
Neck,  a  peninsula  situated  to  the  north  of 
Boston,  with  which  it  now  communicates  by 
a  bridge,  is  a  considerable  eminence  called 
9 


98  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Bunker  Hill.  As  this  was  deemed  a  post  of 
great  importance,  the  Americans  resolved  to 
occupy  it,  and  orders  were  given  by  the  pro 
vincial  authorities  that  a  detachment  of  1,000 
men  should  intrench  themselves  on  the  height 
in  question. 

The  party  was  accordingly  moved  forward 
from  Cambridge  on  the  night  of  the  16th  of 
June,  but,  by  mistake,  commenced  their  ope 
rations  on  Breed's  Hill,  an  eminence  nearer 
to  the  town  of  Boston  than  the  place  of  their 
destination.  Here  they  labored  with  such 
activity,  and  at  the  same  time  with  such  si 
lence,  that  the  appearance  of  their  works  at 
daybreak,  the  next  morning,  was  the  first  in 
dication  of  their  presence. 

The  firing  of  guns  from  the  Lively,  man-of- 
war,  whence  they  were  first  seen,  gave  the 
alarm  to  the  British,  whose  commanders,  on 
reconnoitering  the  position  of  the  enemy  from 
the  steeples  and  heights  of  the  city,  perceived 
that  they  had  thrown  up  a  redoubt  about  eight 
rods  square,  from  which  lines  extended  to  the 
eastward  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill. 
To  the  westward  the  works  were  less  perfect ; 
but  the  provincials  were  busily  employed  in 
carrying  them  on,  notwithstanding  they  were 
exposed  to  showers  of  shot  and  shells  discharg 
ed  from  the  vessels  in  the  harbor.  The  necessi 
ty  of  driving  the  enemy  from  their  position  was 
evident ;  and  for  this  purpose  Gage  put  3,000 
men  under  the  command  of  General  Howe. 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  99 

On  this  occasion  the  British  were  not  very 
alert  in  their  preparations,  as  it  was  noon  be 
fore  their  troops  were  embarked  in  the  boats 
which  were  to  convey  them  to  Moreton's  Point, 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  Charlestown 
Neck.  At  this  awful  crisis  every  elevated 
spot  in  the  town  of  Boston  was  covered  with 
spectators,  who  anxiously  awaited  the  event 
of  the  expected  contest.  Their  attention  was 
first  arrested  by  a  dense  smoke,  which  an 
nounced  that  the  British,  fearing  lest  the 
houses  of  Charlestown  might  afford  shelter 
to  the  provincials,  had  set  that  place  on  fire. 
Proceeding  to  Moreton's  Point,  the  king's 
troops  formed  in  two  lines,  and  marched 
slowly  up  the  hill,  while  their  artillery  played 
on  the  American  works. 

The  provincials  stood  firm  and  steady ;  they 
reserved  their  fire  till  the  British  had  advanced 
within  sixty  or  seventy  yards  of  their  lines ; 
they  then  made  a  simultaneous  discharge 
with  so  cool  an  aim,  and  supported  their  fire 
with  so  much  steadiness,  that  the  British  gave 
way,  and  fled  to  the  water's  edge.  Here  they 
were  rallied  by  their  officers,  and  a  second 
time  led  to  the  charge.  A  second  time  they 
retreated,  and  all  seemed  to  be  lost,  wher. 
General  Howe,  aided  by  General  Clinton, 
who,  seeing  his  distress,  had  crossed  over  fr6m 
Boston  to  join  him,  with  difficulty  persuaded 
them  to  make  another  onset,  which  was  suc 
cessful. 


100  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  Americans  had  expended  their  ammu 
nition,  and  were  unable  to  procure  a  fresh 
supply.  Their  redoubt  being  forced,  they 
were  compelled  to  retreat ;  but  though  the 
road  over  Charlestown  Neck,  by  which  they 
retired,  was  enfiladed  by  the  Glasgow,  man- 
of-war,  they  withdrew  with  much  less  loss 
than  might  have  been  expected ;  they  left 
dead  on  the  field  139  of  their  comrades,  and 
their  wounded  and  missing  amounted  to  314. 

Among  the  valuable  lives  which  were  sac 
rificed  in  this  battle,  the  Americans  were 
sensibly  affected  by  the  loss  of  Dr.  Warren, 
who  was  slain  while  standing  on  the  redoubt, 
animating  his  fellow-soldiers  to  the  most  val 
orous  exertions.  Warren  was  a  man  of  emi 
nent  talents,  and  of  most  amiable  manners  in 
private  and  domestic  life.  He  excelled  as  an 
orator,  and  he  was  wise  and  prudent  in  coun 
cil,  and  the  circumstances  of  his  death  evinced 
that  he  could  act  as  well  as  speak,  and  that 
the  mildness  of  his  character  was  united  with 
firm  determination  and  undaunted  courage. 

The  British  purchased  their  victory  dearly, 
their  loss  amounting  to  226  killed,  and  828 
wounded,  including  79  officers ;  at  this  cost 
General  Gage  obtained  little  more  than  the 
field  of  battle.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  en 
gagement  he  advanced  to  Bunker  Hill,  which 
he  fortified ;  wrhile  the  Americans  intrenched 
themselves  on  Prospect  Hill,  distant  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  his  lines. 


AMERICAN 

Everywliere  the  tidings  of  the  battles  of 
Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill  stirred  up  a  like 
determination  to  resist  and  annoy  where  they 
could  not  expel  the  British  authorities.  The 
militia  were  enrolled  and  armed  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia  and  the  two  Carolinas.  In  July, 
Georgia  had  finally  acceded  to  the  confedera 
tion,  which  then  took  the  name  of  "  The 
Thirteen  United  Colonies,"  and  resistance  be 
came  popular  there.  The  South  proper  sent 
several  companies  of  riflemen,  at  once,  to  the 
army  at  Boston ;  and  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey  contributed  numerous  recruits.  In 
New  York,  a  party  of  patriots  seized  and  car 
ried  away  the  cannon  from  the  battery,  not 
withstanding  the  deadly  opposition  from  the 
British  armed  forces.  And  a  kindred  spirit 
was  developed  in  every  section  of  the  coun- 
try. 


SECTION  XIV. 

UNION  OF  THE  THIRTEEN  PROVINCES. HANCOCK  AP 
POINTED  PRESIDENT,  AND  WASHINGTON  COMMAND 
ER-IN-CHIEF. 

When  Colonel  Allen  appeared  at  the  gates 
.of  Ticonderoga,  on  the  10th  of  May,  he  sum 
moned  that  fortress  "  in  the  name  of  the  Great 
Jehovah  and  the  continental  Congress."  On 
9* 


'102  AMMlCAJT  REVOLUTION. 

the  very  day  on  which  this  summons  was 
given,  that  body  assembled,  and  had  the  sat 
isfaction  to  find  itself  joined  by  delegates 
from  Georgia, — so  that  the  union  of  the  thir 
teen  provinces  was  now  completed.  Peyton 
Randolph,  Esq.,  was  appointed  president ;  but 
urgent  business  soon  after  requiring  his  pres 
ence  at  home,  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Han 
cock. 

After  mature  deliberation,  the  Congress 
agreed  on  addresses  to  the  British  nation,  to 
the  Canadians,  to  Ireland,  and  to  the  Island 
of  Jamaica,  in  which  they  insisted  upon  the 
topics  upon  which  they  had  antecedently 
dwelt  in  similar  compositions.  Fearful  also 
lest,  in  case  of  the  continuance  of  hostilities 
with  the  mother  country,  their  frontier  should 
be  devastated  by  the  Indians,  a  talk  was  pre 
pared,  in  which  the  controversy  between  Great 
Britain  and  her  colonies  was  explained  in  a 
familiar  Indian  style.  They  were  told  that 
"they  had  no  concern  in  the  family  quarrel, 
and  were  urged  by  the  ties  of  ancient  friend 
ship  and  a  common  birthplace,  to  remain  at 
home,  to  keep  their  hatchet  buried  deep,  and 
to  join  neither  side." 

Such  is  the  statement  of  Mr.  Ramsay ;  and 
so  far  as  Congress  is  concerned,  no  doubt  that 
respectable  historian  is  correct.  But  had  he 
carefully  examined  the  official  correspondence 
of  General  Washington,  he  would  have  found, 
from  a  letter  of  his  dated  Ausust  4, 1775,  that 


AMERICAN  RtfVOLUTIOtf. 

the  American  commander-in-ctiief  did  not 
limit  his  views  to  neutrality  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  but  that  he  took  measures  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  Caghnewaga  tribe,  in 
the  event  of  any  expedition  being  meditated 
against  Canada. 

Still  aiming,  with  however  faint  hopes,  at 
conciliation,  the  Congress  drew  up  another 
humble  and  pathetic  petition  to  the  king, 
which  was  delivered  on  the  ensuing  Septem 
ber,  by  their  agents,  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  the 
colonial  secretary  of  state,  who  informed 
them  that  no  answer  would  be  returned  to  it. 
They  did  not,  however,  confine  themselves  to 
literary  controversy,  but  took  measures  for 
depriving  the  British  troops  of  supplies.  They 
also  resolved  to  raise  an  army  sufficient  to 
enable  them  to  cope  with  the  enemy,  and  is 
sued,  for  its  equipment  and  pay,  bills  of  credit 
to  the  value  of  two  millions  of  dollars.  With 
a  happy  unanimity  they  appointed  George 
Washington  commander-in-chief  of  their 
forces. 

Soon  after  he  received  his  commission,  the 
general  repaired  to  the  head-quarters  at 
Cambridge,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  3d  of  July,  and  was  receiv 
ed  with  joyful  acclamations  by  the  troops. 
The  army  consisted  of  14,500  men,  and  occu 
pied  cantonments  so  disposed  as  closely  to 
beleaguer  the  enemy  within  Boston.  The 
soldiers  were  hardy,  active,  and  zealous. 


104.'    •  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

But  still,  when  the  general  had  minutely 
inspected  the  state  of  affairs,  he  found  ample 
matter  for  serious  reflection.  He  was  desti 
tute  of  a  responsible  commissariat  to  procure 
and  dispense  the  necessary  supplies.  Many 
of  the  soldiers  were  ill-provided  with  arms. 
On  the  4th  of  August,  he  was  apprized  of  the 
alarming  fact  that  his  whole  stock  of  powder 
would  afford  little  more  than  nine  rounds  a 
man. 

On  the  settling  of  the  rank  of  officers,  also, 
he  had  to  encounter  the  ill-humor  of  the  am 
bitious,  who  conceived  that  they  were  not 
promoted  according  to  their  merits.  With 
his  characteristic  patience  and  assiduity,  how 
ever,  he  overcame  these  difficulties.  By  the 
influence  of  the  respect  which  his  character 
inspired,  he  reduced  these  jarring  elements 
to  some  degree  of  order.  His  encampments 
were  regularly  supplied  with  provisions.  By 
extraordinary  exertions  he  procured  a  suffi 
cient  stock  of  ammunition  and  military  stores  ; 
and  though  the  well-dressed  scouting  parties- 
of  the  British  who  approached  his  lines  could 
not  repress  a  smile  on  seeing  his  soldiers 
equipped  in  hunting-shirts,  the  affair  at 
Breed's  Hil  had  taught  them  that  a  hand 
some  uniform  is  by  no  means  essential  to 
bravery  in  battle. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  General  Gage  re 
signed  the  command  of  the  British  army  to 
General  Howe,  and  sailed  for  England  in  a 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  105 

vessel  of  war.  Had  he  made  the  voyage  in 
a  transport,  he  would  have  run  some  risk  of 
being  taken  prisoner ;  for  towards  the  close 
of  this  year,  (1775,)  Congress  fitted  out  seve 
ral  privateers,  which  were  eminently  success 
ful  in  capturing  the  store-ships  which  had 
been  sent  from  Great  Britain  with  supplies 
for  the  royal  army.  These  captures  at  once 
crippled  the  enemy  and  furnished  the  Ameri 
cans  with  important  requisites  for  carrying 
on  the  war. 


SECTION  XV. 

INVASION  OF  CANADA. DEATH  OF  MONTGOMERY 

Nor  were  the  offensive  operations  of  the 
provincials  confined  to  the  sea.  Having,  as 
has  been  before  related,  obtained  possession 
of  Ticonderoga,  which  is  the  key  of  Canada, 
the  Congress  determined  to  invade  that  prov 
ince,  in  the  hope  that  its  inhabitants  would 
welcome  the  forces  which  they  might  send 
against  it,  as  their  deliverers  from  the  yoke 
of  oppression.  They  accordingly  gave  the 
command  of  1,000  men  to  Generals  Schuyler 
and  Montgomery,  with  directions  to  march 
into  Canada. 

When  the  expedition  had  advanced  to  the 
town  of  St.  John's,  Schuyler,  in  consequence 


106  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

of  the  bad  state  of  his  health,  resigned  the 
command  to  his  associate,  and  returned  home. 
In  attacking  St.  John's,  the  commander  of 
which  made  a  brave  defence,  Montgomery 
experienced  considerable  difficulties  in  conse 
quence  of  his  want  of  the  chief  requisites  for 
conducting  a  siege  ;  but  he  vanquished  them 
all,  and  compelled  the  garrison,  consisting  of 
500  regulars  and  100  Canadians,  to  surrender. 
During  the  progress  of  the  siege,  Sir  Guy 
Carleton,  the  governor  of  Canada,  had  col 
lected  800  men  at  Montreal,  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  the  besieging  army  ;  but  he  was 
driven  back  by  a  body  of  the  Vermont  militia, 
commanded  by  General  Warner. 

Montgomery,  therefore,  proceeded  to  Mon 
treal,  the  garrison  of  which  attempted  to  es 
cape  down  the  river,  but  were  intercepted 
and  captured  by  the  American  Colonel  Eas- 
ton :  and  Governor  Carleton  himself  was  so 
hard  pressed,  that  he  was  glad  to  escape  to 
Trois  Rivieres,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Que 
bec.  To  this  place  he  was  pursued  by  Mont 
gomery,  who,  in  the  course  of  his  march, 
adopted  the  wisest  measures  to  gain  over  the 
inhabitants  of  the  province.  With  the  peas 
ants  he  succeeded ;  but  upon  the  priests  and 
the  seigneurs,  or  feudal  lords,  who  foresaw 
that  a  revolution  would  be  detrimental  to 
their  interests,  he  made  little  impression.  * 

While  Montgomery  was  penetrating  into 
Canada  by  the  St.  Lawrence  General  Arnold, 


AMERICAN    EVOLUTION. 

who  afterwards  rendered  himself  infamous  by 
his  treachery,  was  advancing  to  co-operate 
with  him  by  the  way  of  the  Kennebeck  river 
and  the  Chaudiere.  This  route  appears  upon 
the  map  to  be  a  very  direct  one ;  but  it  was 
beset  with  formidable  difficulties.  In  their 
voyage  up  the  Kennebeck,  Arnold  and  his 
comrades  had  to  pull  against  a  powerful 
stream  interrupted  by  rapids,  over  which  they 
were  obliged  to  haul  their  boats  with  exces 
sive  labor.  The  space  which  intervenes  be 
tween  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebeck  and  that 
of  the  Chaudiere  was  a  wild  and  pathless 
forest,  through  a  great  part  of  which  they 
were  compelled  to  cut  their  way  with  hatch 
ets  ;  and  so  scantily  were  they  furnished  with 
provisions,  that  when  they  had  eaten  their  last 
morsel  they  had  thirty  miles  to  travel  before 
they  could  expect  any  further  supplies. 

In  spite  of  these  obstructions,  Arnold  per 
severed  in  his  bold  enterprise  ;  and  on  the  8th 
of  November  he  arrived  at  Point  Levi,  oppo 
site  Quebec  ;  and  had  he  possessed  the  means 
of  immediately  passing  the  St.  Lawrence, 
such  was  the  panic  occasioned  by  his  unex 
pected  appearance,  that  it  is  probable  that 
the  city,  in  the  absence  of  the  governor, 
would  have  surrendered  to  him.  But  while 
he  was  collecting  craft  to  effect  his  passage, 
the  inhabitants  recovered  from  their  conster 
nation,  the  governor  arrived,  and  the  place 
was  put  in  a  posture  of  defence. 


108  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  Montgomery,  hav 
ing  effected  a  junction  with  Arnold,  broke 
ground  before  Quebec.  But  he  labored  un 
der  insuperable  disadvantages.  His  forces 
were  inferior  in  number  to  those  of  the  garri 
son.  He  was  destitute  of  a  proper  battering 
train.  His  soldiers  were  daily  sinking  under 
the  hardships  of  a  Canadian  winter ;  and  their 
term  of  enlistment  was  soon  to  expire. 

Seeing  that  no  hopes  were  left,  but  that  of 
the  success  of  a  desperate  effort,  he  attempted 
to  carry  the  city  by  assault,  and  had  pene 
trated  to  the  second  barrier,  when  he  fell  by 
a  musket  shot,  leaving  behind  him  the  char 
acter  of  a  brave  soldier,  an  accomplished 
gentleman,  and  an  ardent  friend  of  liberty. 
Arnold  was  carried  wounded  from  the  field  -r 
but  on  the  death  of  his  friend  he  took  the 
command  of  the  remnant  of  his  forces,  which 
he  encamped  at  the  short  distance  of  three 
miles  from  the  city. 


SECTION  XVI. 

EVACUATION    OF   BOSTON,  MARCH    17,  1776. 

"While  these  transactions  were  carrying  on 
to  the  northward  of  the  American  continent, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  middle  and  southern 
provinces  were  employed  in  preparing  for 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  109 

resistance  against  the  demands  of  the  British 
government,  and  in  general  compelled  such 
of  their  governors  as  took  any  active  meas 
ures  for  the  support  of  royal  authority,  to  con 
sult  for  their  safety  by  taking  refuge  on  board 
of  ships  of  war.  In  Virginia,  the  imprudence 
of  Lord  Dunmore  provoked  open  hostilities, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  burned  the  town  of 
Norfolk.  By  this  act,  however,  and  by  a  pro 
clamation,  in  which  he  promised  freedom  to 
such  of  the  negroes  as  should  join  his  stand 
ard,  he  only  irritated  the  provincials,  without 
doing  them  any  essential  injury ;  and  being 
finally  driven  from  the  colony,  he  returned  to 
England. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  American  forces  found 
himself  in  circumstances  of  extreme  embar 
rassment.  "  It  gives  me  great  distress,"  thus 
he  wrote  in  a  letter  to  Congress  of  the  date 
of  Sept.  21,  1775,  "to  be  obliged  to  solicit  the 
attention  of  the  honorable  Congress  to  the 
state  of  this  army,  in  terms  which  imply  the 
slightest  apprehension  of  being  neglected^ 
But  my  situation  is  inexpressibly  distressing, 
to  see  the  winter  fast  approaching  upon  a 
naked  army  ;  the  time  of  their  service  within 
a  few  weeks  of  expiring ;  and  no  provision 
yet  made  for  such  important  events. 

"  Added  to  these,  the  military  chest  is  total 
ly  exhausted :  the  paymaster  has  not  a  single 
dollar  in  hand ;  the  commissary-general  as- 
10 


110  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

sures  me  he  has  strained  his  credit,  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  army,  to  the  utmost.  The 
quarter-master-general  is  precisely  in  the 
same  situation ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
troops  are  in  a  state  not  far  from  mutiny  upon 
the  deduction  from  their  stated  allowance." 
The  fact  is,  that  the  troops  had  engaged  in 
the  service  of  their  country  with  feelings  of 
ardent  zeal ;  but,  with  a  mistaken  idea  that 
the  contest  would  be  decided  by  a  single 
effort,  they  had  limited  the  time  of  their  ser 
vice  to  a  short  period,  which  was  ready  to 
expire. 

Congress  had  appointed  a  committee,  con 
sisting  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  two  other  indivi 
duals,  to  organize  an  army  for  the  year  1776. 
But  when  these  gentlemen  repaired  to  head 
quarters,  and  sounded  the  dispositions  of  the 
troops  as  to  a  second  enlistment,  they  did  not 
find  in  them  the  alacrity  which  they  expected. 
The  soldiers  were,  as  they  had  evinced  in  all 
services  of  danger,  personally  brave  ;  but  they 
were  unaccustomed  to  the  alternate  monoto 
ny  and  violent  exertion  of  a  military  life,  and 
their  independent  spirit  could  ill  brook  the 
necessary  restraints  of  discipline. 

From  these  causes  so  many  quitted  the 
camp  when  the  term  of  their  service  was  ex 
pired,  that  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  Wash 
ington's  muster-roll  contained  the  names  of 
only  9,650  men.  By  the  exertions  of  the  com 
mittee,  however,  these  were  speedily  rein- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  Ill 

forced  by  a  body  of  militia,  who  increased 
their  numbers  to  17,000.  Upon  these  circum 
stances,  the  commander-in-chief,  in  one  of  his 
despatches  to  Congress,  made  the  following 
striking  remarks. 

"  It  is  not  in  the  pages  of  history,  perhaps, 
to  furnish  a  case  like  ours — to  maintain  a 
post  within  musket-shot  of  the  enemy  for  six 
months  together  without  ammunition,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  to  disband  one  army  and  re 
cruit  another,  within  that  distance  of  twenty 
odd  British  regiments,  is  more,  probably,  than 
ever  was  attempted.  But  if  we  succeed  as 
well  in  the  last,  as  we  have  heretofore  in  the 
first,  I  shall  think  it  the  most  fortunate  event 
of  my  whole  life."  It  may  be  permitted  us  to 
conjecture  that  in  these  circumstances  the 
uneasiness  of  Washington  was  enhanced  by 
his  consciousness  of  the  risk  which  he  ran  in 
thus  communicating  the  secret  of  his  difficul 
ties  to  so  numerous  a  body  as  the  Congress. 
Had  there  been  found  one  coward,  one  traitor, 
or  even  one  indiscreet  individual  in  that  as 
sembly,  the  British  general  would  have  been 
apprized  of  the  vast  advantages  which  he  had 
over  his  antagonist ;  he  would  have  adopted 
the  offensive,  and  the  cause  of  American  in 
dependence  would  have  been  lost.  But  every 
colonial  senator  was  faithful  to  his  trust. 
Every  one  was  silent  as  to  the  real  situation 
of  the  army  ;  and  the  commander-in-chief  still 
confidently  presented  a  bold  front  to  the  enemy. 


112  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  British  troops 
in  Boston  were  much  straitened  for  provi 
sions  ;  and  the  militia  having  joined  the  army 
in  expectation  of  immediate  battle,  were  ea 
ger  for  the  onset,  and  murmured  at  the  delay 
of  the  general  in  giving  the  signal  for  an 
assault  on  the  town.  They  were  little  aware 
of  the  distresses  by  which  he  was  embar 
rassed.  Notwithstanding  the  Congress  had 
even  sent  to  the  coast  of  Africa  to  purchase 
gunpowder,  his  magazines  still  contained  but 
a  scanty  stock  of  that  essential  article,  and 
many  of  his  troops  were  destitute  of  muskets. 
But  he  kept  to  himself  the  important  secret 
of  the  deficiency  of  his  stores,  and  patiently 
submitted  to  the  criticisms  which  were  passed 
on  his  procrastination,  till  he  had  made  the 
requisite  preparations.  He  then  proposed  to 
storm  the  British  lines ;  but  was  advised  by 
his  council  of  war,  in  preference  to  this  meas 
ure,  to  take  possession  of  Dorchester  heights,* 
an  eminence  which  from  the  southward  com 
mands  the  harbor  and  city  of  Boston. 

To  this  advice  he  acceded,  and  having  di 
verted  the  attention  of  the  British  garrison  by 
a  bombardment,  which  was  merely  a  feint,  on 
the  night  of  the  4th  of  March  he  pushed  for 
ward  a  working  party  of  1,200  men,  under 
the  protection  of  a  detachment  of  800  troops. 
The  Americans  were  very  expert  in  the  use 

*  Now  added  to  Boston  and  called  South  Boston 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION,  113 

of  the  spade  and  pickaxe,  and  by  daybreak 
they  had  completed  respectable  lines  of  de 
fence. 

The  British  admiral  no  sooner  beheld  these 
preparations,  than  he  sent  word  to  General 
Howe,  that  if  the  x\mericans  were  not  dis 
lodged  from  their  works  he  could  not  with 
safety  continue  in  the  harbor.  On  the  6th, 
Howe  had  completed  his  arrangements  for 
the  attack  of  the  enemy's  lines,  and  a  bloody 
battle  was  expected ;  but  the  transports  in 
which  his  troops  were  embarked  for  the  pur 
pose  of  approaching  the  heights  by  water 
were  dispersed  by  a  storm ;  and  the  enemy 
so  industriously  took  advantage  of  the  conse 
quent  suspension  of  his  operations  to  strength 
en  their  position,  that  when  the  storm  sub 
sided  he  despaired  of  success  in  attacking  it. 
Finding  the  town  no  longer  tenable,  he  evac 
uated  it  on  the  17th  of  March,  and  sailed 
with  his  garrison,  which  amounted  to  7,000 
men,  to  Halifax  in  Nova  Scotia. 

In  consequence  of  an  implied  threat  on  the 
part  of  General  Howe,  that  if  he  was  inter 
rupted  by  any  hostile  attack  during  the  em 
barkation  of  his  troops,  he  would  set  fire  to 
the  town,  the  British  were  allowed  to  retire 
without  molestation,  though  their  commander, 
immediately  before  his  departure,  levied  con 
siderable  requisitions  for  the  use  of  his  army 
upon  the  merchants,  who  were  possessed  of 
woollen  and  linen  goods ;  and  though  the 


114  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

soldiery,  availing  themselves  of  the  relaxation 
of  military  discipline  which  usually  accom 
panies  the  precipitate  movements  of  troops, 
indulged  themselves,  in  defiance  of  orders 
issued  to  the  contrary,  in  all  the  license  of 
plunder. 

Previously  to  the  evacuation  of  the  place, 
Howe  spiked  all  the  cannon  and  mortars  which 
he  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  him,  and  de 
molished  the  fortifications  of  Castle  William. 
Immediately  on  the  withdrawing  of  the  royal 
forces,  Washington,  entering  Boston  in  tri 
umph,  was  hailed  as  a  deliverer  by  the  ac 
clamations  of  the  inhabitants.  He  also  re 
ceived  the  thanks  of  the  Congress  and  of  the 
legislature  of  Massachusetts ;  and  a  medal 
was  struck  in  honor  of  his  services  in  expel 
ling  the  invaders  from  his  native  land. 

The  exultation  wirich  the  Americans  felt 
at  the  expulsion  of  the  British  from  Boston 
was  tempered  by  the  arrival  of  sinister  intel 
ligence  from  Canada.  In  sending  an  expedi 
tion  into  that  country,  Congress  had  been  in 
fluenced  by  two  motives :  they  wished  at 
once  to  secure  the  junction  of  the  inhabitants 
of  that  province  to  their  union,  and  to  protect 
their  own  northern  frontier  from  invasion. 
But  the  Canadians  were  little  prepared  for 
the  assertion  of  the  principle  of  freedom  ;  and 
the  rapacity  of  the  unprincipled  Arnold,  and 
the  misconduct  of  his  troops,  had  alienated 
their  affections  from  the  common  cause. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  115 

Congress,  however,  by  extraordinary  exer 
tions,  sent  to  the  camp  before  Quebec,  rein 
forcements,  which,  by  the  1st  of  May,  increas 
ed  Arnold's  army  to  the  number  of  3,000  men. 
But  his  forces  were  unfortunately  weakened  by 
the  ravages  of  the  small-pox  ;  and  reinforce 
ments  from  England  having  begun  to  arrive  at 
Quebec,  he  determined  upon  a  retreat.  In 
this  retrograde  movement  the  American  army 
had  to  encounter  difficulties,  which  to  ordina 
ry  minds  would  have  seemed  insurmountable. 

On  their  march  through  almost  impracti 
cable  roads,  they  were  closely  followed,  and 
frequently  brought  to  action,  by  an  enemy 
superior  in  number.  In  an  ill-advised  attack 
on  Trois  Rivieres  they  sustained  considerable 
loss,  and  their  forces  were  for  a  time  sepa 
rated,  and  almost  dispersed.  But  notwith 
standing  these  disasters,  General  Sullivan, 
who  conducted  the  retreat,  contrived  to  save 
his  baggage,  stores,  and  sick,  and  led  back  a 
respectable  remnant  of  his  army  to  Crown 
Point,  where  he  resolved  to  make  a  stand. 
Being  well  aware  of  the  necessity  of  guard 
ing  this  quarter  of  their  frontier  against  the 
incursions  of  the  British,  the  Congress  sent 
thither  an  army  of  12,000  men  under  the 
command  of  General  Gates,  who  cast  up  strong 
•works  at  Ticoiideroga,  and  endeavored  to  re 
tain  the  command  of  Lake  Champlain  by 
means  of  a  flotilla,  which  was  built  and 
equipped  with  a  rapidity  hitherto  unheard  of. 


116  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

General  Carleton,  however,  was  not  behind 
hand  with  him  in  activity.  He  speedily  fitted 
out  a  superior  armament,  by  means  of  which  he 
took  or  destroyed  almost  the  whole  of  the  Amer 
ican  vessels.  Having  thus  made  himself  mas 
ter  of  the  lake,  he  advanced  to  the  vicinity 
of  Ticonderoga ;  but  finding  that  port  too 
strongly  fortified,  and  too  well  garrisoned  to 
be  taken  by  assault,  he  returned  to  Quebec. 
Valor  and  military  skill  were  not  the  highest 
characteristics  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton.  The 
kindness  which  he  manifested  to  his  prison 
ers,  and  especially  to  the  sick  and  wounded 
of  the  Americans  who  fell  into  his  hands,  en 
title  him  to  the  superior  praise  of  humanity. 


SECTION  XVII. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE,  4TH  OF  JULY, 

1776. 

When  the  British  ministry  took  the  resolu 
tion  to  coerce  the  discontented  colonies  by 
force  of  arms,  they  were  little  aware  of  the 
difficulty  of  their  undertaking ;  and,  conse 
quently,  the  means  which  they  adopted  for 
the  execution  of  their  designs,  were  by  no 
means  commensurate  with  the  object  which 
they  had  in  view.  But  when  they  met  the 
parliament  in  October,  1775,  they  were  oblig 
ed  to  confess  that  the  spirit  of  resistance  to 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  117 

royal  authority  was  widely  diffused  through 
out  the  North  American  provinces,  that  re 
bellion  had  assumed  a  bold  front,  and  had 
been  alarmingly  successful. 

To  supply  them  with  the  means  of  sup 
pressing  it,  parliament  readily  voted  the  raising 
and  equipment  of  28,000  seamen,  and  55,000 
land  forces.  The  bill  which  provided  for  this 
powerful  armament,  also  authorized  his  ma 
jesty  to  appoint  commissioners,  who  were  to 
be  empowered  to  grant  pardons  to  individu 
als,  to  inquire  into  and  redress  grievances, 
and  to  receive  any  colonies,  upon  their  return 
to  obedience,  into  the  king's  peace. 

When  the  colonists  were  apprized  of  the 
bill  having  been  passed  into  a  law,  they  treat 
ed  the  offer  of  pardon  with  contempt,  and 
contemplated  with  anger,  but  not  with  dis 
may,  the  formidable  preparations  announced 
by  its  provisions.  Their  irritation  was  ex 
cited  to  the  highest  pitch  when  they  were  in 
formed  that  Lord  North  had  engaged  16,000 
German  mercenaries  to  assist  in  their  subju 
gation. 

Nor  did  this  measure  escape  severe  ani 
madversion  in  the  British  parliament.  It  was 
warmly  censured  by  many  members  of  the 
opposition,  especially  by  Mr.  Adair  and  Mr. 
Dunning,  who  maintained  that,  in  engaging 
the  services  of  foreign  mercenaries  without 
the  previous  consent  of  parliament,  ministers 
had  violated  the  provision  of  the  Bill  of  Rights, 


118  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

and  that  by  this  infringement  of  the  constitu 
tion,  they  had  set  a  precedent  which  might 
be  made  available  by  some  future  arbitrary 
monarch  to  the  destruction  of  the  liberties  of 
the  country. 

The  command  of  the  British  forces  was 
given  to  General  Howe,  who,  in  arranging 
the  plan  of  the  campaign,  determined,  first, 
after  driving  the  enemy  from  Canada,  to  in 
vade  their  country  by  the  northwestern  fron 
tier.  2dly,  to  subdue  the  southern  colonies  ; 
and,  3dly,  to  strike  at  the  centre  of  the  Union 
by  conquering  the  province  of  New  York, 
from  which,  by  means  of  the  Hudson  river, 
he  should  be  able  to  co-operate  with  the  royal 
army  in  Canada.  The  latter  province  having 
been  already  rescued  from  the  invaders  by 
Sir  Guy  Carleton,  General  Howe  committed 
the  execution  of  the  second  part  of  his  plan 
to  General  Clinton  and  Sir  Peter  Parker,  who 
having  effected  a  junction  at  Cape  Fear,  re 
solved  to  make  an  attack  upon  Charleston. 

They  accordingly  sailed  up  Ashley  river, 
on  which  that  place  is  situated ;  but  they  en 
countered  so  determined  an  opposition  from 
a  fort  hastily  erected  on  Sullivan's  Island,  and 
commanded  by  Colonel  Moultrie,  that,  after 
sustaining  considerable  loss  of  men,  and  much 
damage  to  their  shipping,  they  gave  up  their 
enterprise  and  sailed  to  New  York.  The  re 
sult  of  this  attempt  was  highly  favorable  to 
the  Americans,  as  it  consoled  them  for  their 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


losses  in  the  North,  inspirecj^them  with  new 
confidence,  and,  for  the  ensuing  two  years 
and  a  half,  preserved  the  southern  colonies 
from  the  presence  of  a  hostile  force. 

The  command  of  the  principal  British  fleet,. 
destined  to  co-operate  with  General  Howe, 
had  been  bestowed  upon  his  brother,  Sir 
William,  who,  when  his  equipment  was 
finished,  sailed  directly  for  Halifax.  On  his 
arrival  at  that  place,  he  found  that  the  gene 
ral,  impatient  of  his  delay,  had  proceeded  on 
his  voyage  towards  New  York,  whither  he 
immediately  followed  him,  and  joined  him  at 
Staten  Island. 

On  this  junction  of  the  two  brothers,  their 
forces  were  found  to  amount  to  30,000  men  ; 
and  never,  perhaps,  was  an  army  better 
equipped,  or  more  amply  provided  with  artil 
lery,  stores,  and  every  requisite  for  the  carry 
ing  on  of  vigorous  and  active  hostilities.  Far 
different  was  the  condition  of  the  American 
commander-in-chief.  His  troops,  enlisted  for 
short  periods,  had  acquired  little  discipline. 
They  were  scantily  clothed  and  imperfectly 
armed.  They  were  frequently  in  want  of 
ammunition  ;  and  they  were  ill-supplied  with 
provisions.  Disaffection  to  the  cause  of  their 
country  was  also  manifested  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  New  York,  who,  at  the  insti 
gation  of  Governor  Tryon,  had  entered  into 
a  conspiracy  to  aid  the  king's  troops  on  their 
expected  arrival. 


120  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

In  this  plot,  even  some  of  the  army  had 
been  engaged  ;  and  a  soldier  of  the  command- 
er-in-chief's  own  guard  had,  by  the  unani 
mous  sentence  of  a  court-martial,  been  sen 
tenced  to  die  for  enrolling  himself  among  the 
conspirators,  and  enlisting  others  in  the  same 
traitorous  cause.  In  these  circumstances 
Washington  could  not  but  regard  the  ap 
proaching  contest  with  serious  uneasiness ; 
but  he,  as  usual,  concealed  his  uneasiness 
within  his  own  bosom,  and  determined  to 
fight  to  the  last  in  the  cause  of  his  country. 
His  firmness  was  participated  by  the  Con 
gress,  who,  while  the  storm  seemed  to  be 
gathering  thick  over  their  heads,  beheld  it 
with  eyes  undismayed,  and  now  proceeded 
with  a  daring  hand  to  strike  the  decisive 
stroke  which  forever  separated  thirteen  flour 
ishing  colonies  from  their  dependence  on  the 
British  crown. 

It  is  possible,  nay,  it  is  probable,  that  from 
the  beginning  of  the  disputes  with  the  mother 
country,  there  may  have  been  some  few  specu 
lators  among  the  American  politicians,  who 
entertained  some  vague  notions  and  some 
uncertain  hopes  of  independence.  In  every 
age,  and  in  every  country,  there  are  individ 
uals  wrhose  mental  view  extends  to  a  wider 
circle  than  that  of  the  community  at  large, 
and  unhappy  is  their  destiny  if  they  attempt 
to  bring  their  notions  into  action,  or  even  to 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  12 1 

promulgate  them,  before  the  season  is  ripe 
unto  the  harvest. 

But  no  such  precipitancy  was  found  among 
the  partisans  of  American  liberty.  Like 
Franklin,  for  year  after  year,  they  limited 
their  wishes  to  an  exemption  from  parliamen 
tary  taxation,  and  to  a  preservation  of  their 
chartered  rights  and  privileges.  But  the  vio 
lent  measures  of  the  British  ministers  altered 
their  sentiments,  and  the  spectacle  of  their 
countrymen  mustering  in  arms  to  resist  min 
isterial  oppression,  prompted  them  to  bolder 
daring.  Finding  that  the  British  cabinet  had 
hired  foreign  troops  to  assist  in  their  subjuga 
tion,  they  foresaw  that  they  might  be  reduced 
to  apply  to  foreign  aid  to  help  them  in  their 
resistance  against  oppression.  But  what 
power  would  lend  them  aid  while  they  re 
tained  the  character  of  subjects  of  his  Britan 
nic  majesty  ? 

Sentiments  such  as  these,  having  been 
industriously  and  successfully  disseminated 
throughout  the  Union,  the  Congress  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1776,  while  the  formidable  array 
of  the  British  fleet  was  hovering  on  their 
coasts,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  representative  of  Virginia,  passed  their 
celebrated  Declaration  of  Independence,  by 
which  act  they  forever  withdrew  their  alle 
giance  from  the  king  of  Great  Britain.  This 
important  document  is  couched  in  the  follow 
ing  terms : — 

11 


122  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

"  When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it 
becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve 
the  political  bands  which  have  connected 
them  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to 
the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them 
to  the  separation. 

"  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident, 
that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  un- 
alienable  rights,  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  to 
secure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted 
among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  whenever 
any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive 
of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new 
government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such 
principles,  and  organizing  its  power  in  such 
form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness. 

"  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  gov 
ernments  long  established  should  not  be 
changed  for  light  and  transient  causes  ;  and, 
accordingly,  all  experience  hath  shown,  that 
mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while 
evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves 
by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  acr 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  123 

«ustomed.  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses 
and  usurpations,  pursuing  invariably  the 
same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them 
under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right — it 
is  their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  government, 
and  to  provide  new  guards  for  their  future 
security. 

"  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of 
these  colonies,  and  such  is  now  the  necessity 
which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former 
system  of  government.  The  history  of  the 
present  king  of  Great  Britain,  is  a  history  of 
repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having 
in  direct  object,  the  establishment  of  an  abso 
lute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove 
this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

"  He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most 
wholesome  and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

"  He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass 
laws  of  immediate  and  pressing  importance, 
unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  as 
sent  should  be  obtained  ;  and  when  so  sus 
pended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to 
them. 

"  He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the 
accommodation  of  large  districts  of  people, 
unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  right 
of  representation  in  the  legislature — a  right 
inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  ty 
rants  only. 

"  He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies 
,at  places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant 


124  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

from  the  depository  of  their  public  records, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into 
compliance  with  his  measures. 

"  He  has  dissolved  representative  houses 
repeatedly,  for  opposing,  with  manly  firm 
ness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  his  people. 

"  He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such 
dissolutions,  to  cause  others  to  be  elected, 
whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable  of 
annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at 
large  for  their  exercise  ;  the  state  remaining 
in  the  mean  time  exposed  to  all  the  danger 
of  invasion  from  without,  and  convulsions 
within. 

"  He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  popu 
lation  of  these  states,  for  that  purpose  ob 
structing  the  laws  for  naturalization  of  for 
eigners,  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage 
their  migration  hither,  and  raising  the  condi 
tions  of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

"  He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of 
justice,  by  refusing  his  assent  to  laws  for  es 
tablishing  judiciary  powers. 

"  He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his 
will  alone  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and 
the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 

"  He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices, 
and  sent  hither  swarms  of  officers  to  harass 
our  people,  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

"  He  has  kept  among  us,  in  time  of  peace, 
standing  armies,  without  the  consent  of  our 
legislatures. 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  125 

"  He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  in 
dependent  of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

"  He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject 
us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitution, 
and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws,  giving  his 
assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation ; 

"  For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed 
troops  among  us ; 

"  For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial, 
from  punishment  for  any  murders  which  they 
should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these 
states  ; 

"For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts 
of  the  world  ; 

"  For  imposing  taxes  upon  us  without  our 
consent ; 

"  For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the 
benefits  of  trial  by  jury ; 

"  For  transporting  us  beyond  the  seas  to  be 
tried  for  pretended  offences  ; 

"  For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English 
laws  in  a  neighboring  province,  establishing 
therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  enlarg 
ing  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once 
an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introdu 
cing  the  same  absolute  rule  in  these  colonies ; 

"  For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing 
our*  most  valuable  laws,  and  altering  funda 
mentally  the  form  of  our  governments  ; 

"  For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and 
declaring  themselves  invested  with  power  to 
legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 
11* 


126  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

"  He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by 
declaring  us  out  of  his  protection,  and  waging 
war  against  us. 

"  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our 
coasts,  burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the 
lives  of  our  people. 

"  He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large  ar 
mies  of  foreign  mercenaries  to  complete  the 
works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny,  al 
ready  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty 
and  perfidy,  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most 
barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

"  He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens, 
taken  captive  on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms 
against  their  country,  to  become  the  execu 
tioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to 
fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

"  He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections 
among  us,  and  has  endeavored  to  bring  on 
the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the  merciless 
Indian  savages  ;  whose  known  rule  of  war 
fare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all 
ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

"  In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions  we 
have  petitioned  for  redress  in  the  most  hum 
ble  terms  ;  our  repeated  petitions  have  been 
answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince, 
whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every 
act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be 
the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

"  Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attention 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  127 

to  our  British  brethren.  We  have  warned 
them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  made  by 
their  legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable 
•jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them 
of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration  and 
settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their 
native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have 
conjured  them  by  the  ties  of  our  common 
kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which 
would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections 
and  correspondence.  They  too  have  been 
deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  consanguini 
ty.  We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  ne 
cessity  which  denounces  our  separation,  and 
hold  them  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind, 
— enemies  in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

"  We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  general  con 
gress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme 
Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do  in  the  name,  and  by  authority 
of  the  good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly 
publish  and  declare,  that  these  united  colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  FREE  and  INDE 
PENDENT  STATES  ;  that  they  are  absolved  from 
all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown  ;  and  that 
all  political  connection  between  them  and  the 
State  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
totally  dissolved  ;  and  that,  as  free  and  inde 
pendent  states,  they  have  full  power  to  levy 
war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  es 
tablish  commerce,  and  do  all  other  acts  and 


128  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

things  which  independent  states  may,  of  right, 
do.  And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration, 
with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Di 
vine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each 
other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred 
honor." 


SECTION  XVIII. 

CAPTURE  OF    LONG  ISLAND,  26TH  OF  AUGUST,  1776. 

General  Washington  was  well  aware  that 
New  York  would  be  the  first  object  of  attack 
on  the  part  of  the  British  ;  and  despairing  of 
being  able  to  encounter  them  in  the  open 
field,  he  resolved  to  protract  the  approaching 
campaign  by  carrying  on  a  war  of  posts. 
With  this  view,  after  fortifying  Long  Island, 
he  threw  up  various  intrenchments  on  New 
York  Island,  which  is  bounded  on  the  west 
by  the  Hudson,  and  on  the  south  and  east  by 
the  East  river,  while  to  the  north  it  is  sepa 
rated  from  the  main  land  by  a  narrow  chan 
nel  which  unites  these  two  streams. 

He  also  constructed  two  forts,  the  one  on 
the  Hudson,  named  Fort  Washington,  by 
which  he  proposed  to  maintain  his  communi 
cation  with  Jersey,  while  the  other,  called 
Fort  Lee,  connected  his  defence  with  the 
province  of  New  York.  While  he  was  mak 
ing  these  preparations,  he  received  from 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  129 

Pennsylvania  a  seasonable  reinforcement  of 
10,000  men,  raised  for  the  express  purpose  of 
forming  a  flying  camp ;  but  he  was  disap 
pointed  in  his  expectation  of  the  aid  of  a 
large  body  of  militia.  Independently  of  the 
flying  camp,  his  forces,  at  this  moment  of 
peril,  amounted  only  to  17,225  men. 

Before  commencing  hostilities,  the  Howes, 
with  a  view  of  conciliation,  or  of  detaching 
the  wavering  among  the  colonists  from  the 
cause  of  the  Congress,  issued  a  proclamation, 
offering  a  pardon  to  such  of  his  majesty's  re 
bellious  subjects  as  would  lay  down  their 
arms,  and  announcing  their  powers,  on  the 
fulfilment  of  certain  conditions,  to  receive 
any  colony,  district,  or  place,  into  the  king's 
peace. 

This  proclamation  produced  no  effect  be 
yond  the  districts  from  time  to  time  occupied 
by  the  royal  army.  General  Howe  also  endeav 
ored  to  open  a  correspondence  with  Wash 
ington,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  a  ground 
for  the  amicable  adjustment  of  all  differences 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country ; 
but  as  the  British  commander  did  not  recog 
nise  the  official  character  of  Washington  in 
the  address  of  his  letter,  it  was  returned  un 
opened,  and  thus  this  attempt  at  negotiation 
failed. 

The  letter  of  General  Howe  was  directed 
simply  to  George  Washington,  Esq.  The  let 
ter  was  returned,  not,  as  General  Washington 


130  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

informed  Congress,  upon  a  mere  point  of  per 
sonal  punctilio,  but  because,  in  a  "  public 
point  of  view,"  it  was  due  to  his  "  country 
and  appointment"  to  insist  upon  respect  to 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  American 
forces.  Congress  applauded  his  course,  and 
directed,  by  resolution,  that  no  letter  nor  com 
munication  from  the  enemy  should  be  received 
by  any  officer  whatever,  unless  directed  to 
him  properly  in  his  official  capacity. 

A  second  letter,  brought  by  Adjutant-gene 
ral  Patterson,  addressed  to  George  Washing 
ton,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.,  was  in  like  manner  de 
clined.  To  the  remark  that  these  et  ceteras  im 
plied  every  thing,  and  were  not  liable  to  the 
previous  objection,  General  Washington  re 
plied  that  they  implied  any  thing,  and  he 
should  in  consequence  refuse  to  receive  all 
communications  not  explicitly  acknowledging 
his  public  capacity.  Gen.  Patterson  con 
cluded  a  long  conference,  managed  on  both 
sides  writh  great  dignity  and  courtesy,  by  re 
marking  that  the  commissioners  had  "  great 
powers,"  and  would  be  happy  to  effect  an 
accommodation.  "  Their  powers,"  rejoined 
Washington,  "  are  only  to  grant  pardons. 
They  who  have  committed  no  fault,  want  no 
pardon." 

Those  who  are  accustomed  to  the  rapid 
proceedings  of  more  modern  warfare,  cannot 
give  to  General  Howe  the  praise  due  to  ac 
tivity.  Though  he  arrived  at  Staten  Island 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  131 

on  the  10th  of  June,  it  was  not  till  the  26th 
of  August  that  he  commenced  active  opera 
tions  against  the  enemy  by  an  attack  on  Long 
Island,  on  the  northwestern  part  of  which  a 
respectable  force  of  Americans,  commanded 
by  General  Sullivan,  occupied  an  intrenched 
camp.  Their  position  was  protected  in  front 
by  a  range  of  hills  stretching  across  the  Is 
land,  from  the  Narrows,  a  strait,  which  sepa 
rates  it  from  Staten  Island,  to  the  town  of 
Jamaica,  situated  on  the  southern  coast. 

Over  the  hills  in  question  pass  three  defen 
sible  roads,  each-  of  which  was  guarded  by 
800  men.  The  pass  by  the  Narrows  was  at 
tacked  and  carried  by  General  Grant ;  the 
second,  by  Flatbush,  was  cleared  by  General 
de  Heister,  in  retreating  before  whom  the 
Americans  were  encountered  by  General 
Clinton,  who  with  the  right  wing  of  the 
British  army,  had  made  a  detour  by  Jamaica. 
Thus  the  provincials  were  driven  into  their 
lines  with  the  loss  of  upwards  of  1,000  men, 
while  the  British  loss  did  not  amount  to  more 
than  450. 

During  the  engagement  Washington  had 
sent  strong  reinforcements  into  Long  Island, 
and,  at  its  close,  he  repaired  thither  in  per 
son,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  army. 
This  movement  had  nearly  occasioned  his 
ruin.  He  soon  found  himself  cooped  up  in  a 
corner,  with  a  superior  force  in  front  prepared 
to  attack  his  works,  which  were  untenable. 


132  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

In  these  circumstances  his  only  safety  lay 
in  retreat.  It  was  a  difficult  operation  to 
convey  a  whole  army  across  a  ferry  in  the 
presence  of  an  enemy,  whose  working  parties 
could  be  heard  by  his  sentries.  But  favored 
by  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  by  a  fog 
which  arose  in  the  morning,  he  transported 
the  whole  of  his  force  to  New  York,  leaving 
nothing  behind  him  but  some  heavy  cannon. 


SECTION  XIX. 

EVACUATION  OF  NEW  YORK,  1ST  OF  SEPTEMBER, 

1776. 

Among  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  British 
on  Long  Island  was  General  Sullivan,  whom 
General  Howe  sent  on  his  parole  with  a  mes 
sage  to  Congress,  renewing  his  offers  to  nego 
tiate  for  an  amicable  accommodation.  The 
Congress  sent  a  committee  of  three  of  their 
body, — Dr.  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  Ed 
ward  Rutledge,  to  confer  with  him  on  the 
subject  of  his  communication.  These  depu 
ties  were  received  with  great  politeness  by 
General  Howe  ;  but,  after  a  full  discussion 
with  the  British  commander,  they  reported  to 
Congress  that  his  proposals  were  unsatisfac 
tory,  and  his  powers  insufficient.  Their  re 
port  concluded  in  the  following  terms  :— 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

"  It  did  not  appear  to  your  committee,  that 
his  lordship's  commission  contained  any  other 
authority  than  that  expressed  by  the  act  of 
parliament, — namely,  that  of  granting  par 
dons,  with  such  exceptions  as  the  commission 
ers  shall  think  proper  to  make,  and  of  declar 
ing  America  or  any  part  of  it  to  be  in  the 
king's  peace  on  submission ;  for,  as  to  the 
power  of  inquiring  into  the  state  of  America, 
which  his  lordship  mentioned  to  us,  and  of 
conferring  arid  consulting  with  any  persons 
the  commissioners  might  think  proper,  and 
representing  the  result  of  such  conversation 
to  the  ministry,  who,  provided  the  colonies 
would  subject  themselves,  might,  after  all,  or 
might  not,  at  their  pleasure,  make  any  alter 
ations  in  the  former  instructions  to  governors, 
or  propose  in  parliament  any  amendment  of 
the  acts  complained  of;  we  apprehend  any 
expectation  from  the  effect  of  such  power 
would  have  been  too  uncertain  and  precarious 
to  be  relied  on  by  America,  had  she  still  con 
tinued  in  her  state  of  dependence."  This  at 
tempt  at  negotiation  having  thus  fruitlessly 
terminated,  nothing  was  left  but  to  decide  the 
dispute  by  arms. 

The  Congress  embraced  this  alternative  in 
circumstances  which  would  have  reduced 
men  of  less  resolute  spirits  to  despair.  Their 
army  was  so  dispirited  by  the  events  which 
had  taken  place  in  Long  Island,  that  the  mi 
litia  began  to  desert,  and  the  constancy  of 
12 


134  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

some  of  the  regulars  was  shaken.  They 
were  apprized,  too,  that  Washington  foresaw 
the  necessity  of  making  a  series  of  retrograde 
movements,  which  were  calculated  to  cloud 
the  public  mind  with  despondency. 

The  prognostics  of  the  general  were  soon 
verified.  On  the  15th  of  September,  General 
Howe  effected  a  landing  on  New  York  Island, 
and  compelled  him  to  evacuate  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  to  retire  to  the  north  end  of  the  island. 
Here  Howe  unaccountably  suffered  him  to 
remain  unmolested  for  nearly  four  weeks,  at 
the  end  of  which  time  he  manoeuvred  to 
compel  him  to  give  him  battle  on  the  island. 
Dreading  the  being  reduced  to  this  perilous 
necessity,  the  American  commander  withdrew 
to  the  White  Plains,  taking,  however,  every 
opportunity  to  front  the  enemy,  and  engaging 
in  partial  actions,  which  in  some  degree  kept 
the  British  in  check. 

At  length  he  crossed  the  Hudson,  and  oc 
cupied  some  strong  ground  on  the  Jersey  shore 
of  that  river,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort 
Lee.  He  had  no  sooner  evacuated  New 
York  Island  than  General  Howe  attacked  and 
took  Fort  Washington,  in  which  he  made 
2,700  men  prisoners,  at  the  cost,  however,  of 
1,200  men  on  his  side  killed  and  wounded. 
Fort  Lee  was  shortly  after  evacuated  by  its 
garrison,  and  taken  possession  of  by  Lord 
Cornwallis.  Following  up  these  successes, 
General  Howe  pursued  the  flying  Americans 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  135 

to  Newark,  and  from  Newark  to  Brunswick, 
and  from  Brunswick  successively  to  Prince 
ton  and  Trenton,  till  at  length  he  drove  them  to 
the  Pennsylvania  side  of  the  Delaware.  It  fre 
quently  happened  that  as  the  rear  of  the  Amer 
icans  left  a  village  on  one  side,  the  advance 
guard  of  the  British  entered  it  at  the  other. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  distress  which 
the  American  army  suffered  during  this  re 
treat  through  the  Jerseys.  They  were  desti 
tute  of  blankets  and  shoes,  and  their  clothing 
was  reduced  to  rags.  They  were  coldly 
looked  upon  by  the  inhabitants,  who  gave 
up  the  cause  of  America  for  lost,  and  hasten 
ed  to  make  their  peace  with  the  victors.  Had 
General  Howe  been  able  to  maintain  disci 
pline  in  his  army,  Jersey  would  have  been 
severed  from  the  Union.  But,  fortunately  for 
interests  of  the  Congress,  his  troops  indulged 
in  all  the  excesses  of  military  violence,  and 
irritated  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  to 
such  a  degree,  that  their  new-born  loyalty 
was  speedily  extinct,  and  all  their  thoughts 
were  bent  upon  revenge. 


SECTION  XX. 

BATTLE  OF  TRENTON,  28TH  DECEMBER,  1776. 

On  the  approach  of  the  British  to  the  Dela 
ware,  Congress  adjourned  its  sittings  from 


l36  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  and  it  was  ex 
pected  that  General  Howe  would  speedily 
make  his  triumphal  entry  into  the  Pennsyl- 
vanian  capital.  But  a  bold  manoeuvre  of 
Washington  suddenly  turned  the  tide  of  suc 
cess.  On  his  arrival  at  the  Delaware,  his 
troops  were  dwindled  down  to  the  number  of 
3,000 ;  but  having  received  some  reinforce 
ments  of  Pennsylvania  militia,  he  determined 
to  endeavor  to  retrieve  his  fortunes  by  a  de 
cisive  stroke.  The  British  troops  were  can 
toned  in  Burlington,  Bordentown,  and  Tren 
ton,  waiting  for  the  formation  of  the  ice  to 
cross  into  Pennsylvania. 

Understanding  that  in  the  confidence  pro 
duced  by  a  series  of  successes,  they  were  by 
no  means  vigilant,  he  conceived  the  possibili 
ty  of  taking  them  by  surprise.  He  accord 
ingly,  on  the  evening  of  Christmas  day,  con 
veyed  the  main  body  of  his  army  over  the 
Delaware,  and  falling  upon  the  troops  quar 
tered  in  Trenton,  killed  and  captured  about 
960  of  them,  and  re-crossed  into  Pennsylvania 
with  his  prisoners. 

On  the  28th  of  December,  he  again  took 
possession  of  Trenton,  where  he  was  soon 
encountered  by  a  superior  force  of  British, 
who  drove  in  his  advanced  parties,  and  en 
tered  the  town  in  the  evening,  with  the  in 
tention  of  giving  him  battle  the  next  morning. 
The  two  armies  were  separated  only  by  a 
narrow  creek,  which  runs  through  the  town. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  137 

In  such  a  position  it  should  seem  to  be  im 
possible  that  any  movement  on  the  one  side 
or  on  the  other  could  pass  unobserved.  The 
situation  of  Washington  was  now  exceedingly 
critical ;  with  a  superior  army  in  front,  he 
knew  defeat  to  be  certain  in  a  pitched  battle  ; 
and  to  retreat  over  the  Delaware  encumbered 
by  floating  ice,  difficult  and  dangerous.  To 
fight  was  to  lose  all  the  benefits  of  the  late 
victories  upon  the  spirits,  as  well  as  upon  the 
fortunes,  of  the  Americans ;  and  a  retreat, 
besides  the  peril,  was  little  less  disheartening. 
With  his  usual  sagacity  and  boldness,  he 
struck  out  another  extraordinary  scheme, 
which  was  accomplished  with  consummate 
skill,  and  followed  by  the  happiest  results. 

In  the  darkness  of  the  night,  Washington, 
leaving  his  fires  lighted,  and  a  few  guards  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  enemy,  quitted  his 
encampment,  and,  crossing  a  bridge  over  the 
creek,  which  had  been  left  unguarded,  direct 
ed  his  march  to  Princeton,  where,  after  a  short 
but  brisk  engagement,  he  killed  60  of  the  Brit- 
ishf  and  took  300  prisoners.  The  rest  of  the 
royal  forces  were  dispersed,  and  fled  in  differ 
ent  directions.  Great  was  the  surprise  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  wrho  commanded  the  British 
army  at  Trenton,  when  the  report  of  the  ar 
tillery  at  Princeton,  which  he  at  first  mistook 
for  thunder,  and  the  arrival  of  breathless 
messengers,  apprized  him  that  the  enemy 
was  in  his  rear, 

12* 


138  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Alarmed  by  the  danger  of  his  position,  he 
commenced  a  retreat ;  and,  being  harassed 
by  the  militia  and  the  countrymen  who  had 
suffered  from  the  outrages  perpetrated  by  his 
troops  on  their  advance,  he  did  not  deem  him 
self  in  safety  till  he  arrived  at  Brunswick, 
from  whence,  by  means  of  the  Raritan,  he  had 
a  communication  with  New  York. 

This  splendid  success  inspired  the  Ameri 
cans  with  renewed  spirits.  Recruits  were 
readily  raised  for  their  army,  which  took  up 
its  winter-quarters  at  Morristown,  about  30 
miles  to  the  northward  of  Brunswick ;  here 
both  the  officers  and  soldiers  were  inoculated 
for  the  small-pox.  During  this  interval  of 
comparative  leisure,  Washington  urgently  re 
newed  the  representations  which  he  had  be 
fore  frequently  made  to  the  Congress,  of  the 
necessity  of  abandoning  the  system  of  enlist 
ing  men  for  limited  terms  of  service.  The 
dread  justly  entertained  by  that  body  of  a 
standing  army  had  hitherto  induced  them  to 
listen  coldly  to  his  remonstrances  on  this  point. 
But  the  experience  of  the  last  campaign 
corrected  their  views,  and  they  resolved 
to  use  their  utmost  exertion  to  raise  an  army 
pledged  to  serve  till  the  conclusion  of  the 
war. 

The  free  spirit  of  the  Americans,  however, 
could  not  brook  enlistment  for  a  time  so  un 
defined,  and  the  Congress  therefore  issued 
proposals  for  a  levy  of  soldiers  to  be  engaged 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION*.  139 

for  three  years,  at  the  same  time  offering  a 
bounty  of  100  acres  of  land  to  those  who 
would  accept  their  first  proposals.  Though 
these  measures  in  the  end  proved  effectual, 
their  accomplishment  was  slow,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1777,  Washington's  whole  force  did 
not  amount  to  more  than  1,500  men;  but 
with  these  inconsiderable  numbers  he  so  dis 
posed  his  posts,  that  with  the  occasional  as 
sistance  of  the  New  Jersey  militia  and  volun 
teers,  he  for  some  weeks  kept  the  British  in 
check  at  Brunswick. 

At  this  period,  the  difficulties  under  which 
he  had  so  long  labored  from  the  want  of  arms 
and  military  stores,  were  alleviated  by  the 
arrival  of  upwards  of  20,000  muskets,  and 
1,000  barrels  of  powder,  which  had  been  pro 
cured  in  France  and  Holland  by  the  agency 
of  the  celebrated  dramatist,  Carron  de  Beau- 
marchais. 

Late  in  the  spring  of  1777,  however,  the 
utmost  exertions  of  Congress  in  forwarding 
the  recruiting  service  could  put  no  more  than 
7,272  effective  men  at  the  disposal  of  General 
Washington.  With  this  small  force  it  was 
manifestly  his  policy  to  gain  time,  and  by 
occupying  advantageous  ground,  to  avoid  be 
ing  forced  to  a  general  engagement.  With 
a  view,  however,  of  inspiriting  his  country 
men,  he  took  the  field  before  the  enemy  had 
quitted  their  winter-quarters,  and  towards  the 
end  of  May  he  made  a  movement  from  Mor- 


140  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

ristown  to  Middlebrook,  where  he  encamped 
in  a  strong  position. 

General  Howe  no  sooner  heard  that  the 
Americans  were  in  motion,  than  he  advanced 
from  Brunswick  to  Somerset  courthouse,  ap 
parently  with  an  intention  of  pushing  for  the 
Delaware ;  but  the  country  rising  in  arms 
on  every  side  of  him,  he  was  deterred  from 
prosecuting  this  design,  and  hastily  measured 
back  his  steps  to  his  former  position.  On 
their  retreat,  his  troops  committed  great  rav 
ages,  and  particularly  incensed  the  inhabit 
ants  by  burning  some  of  their  places  of  wor 
ship. 

After  frequently  trying  in  vain  to  entice 
Washington  from  his  strong  position,  General 
Howe  at  length  retired  to  Amboy.  There 
learning  that  his  adversary  had  descended  to 
Quibbletown,  he  hastened  back  to  attack  him  ; 
but  had  the  mortification  on  his  arrival  at  the 
spot  lately  occupied  by  the  Americans,  to 
learn  that  his  vigilant  foe  had  withdrawn 
into  his  fastnesses.  Despairing  of  being  able 
to  penetrate  into  Pennsylvania  by  the  way  of 
the  Jerseys,  he  passed  over  into  Staten  Island, 
from  which  point  he  resolved  to  prosecute 
the  future  views  of  his  campaign  by  the  as 
sistance  of  his  fleet. 

What  those  views  might  be,  it  was  difficult 
for  Washington  to  ascertain.  The  whole 
coast  of  the  United  States  was  open  to  the 
British  commander-in-chief.  He  might  at  his 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  141 

pleasure  sail  to  the  north  or  to  the  south. 
General  Washington  was  inclined  to  believe 
that  his  intention  was  to  move  up  Hudson 
river  to  co-operate  with  General  Burgoyne, 
who  was  advancing  with  a  large  army  on 
the  Canadian  frontier;  and,  impressed  with 
this  idea,  he  moved  a  part  of  his  army  to 
Peekskill,  while  he  posted  another  portion  at 
Trenton,  to  be  ready,  if  required,  to  march  to 
the  relief  of  Philadelphia. 

While  he  was  in  this  state  of  uncertainty, 
he  received  intelligence  that  Howe  had  em 
barked  with  16,000  men,  and  had  steered  to 
the  southward.  Still  apprehending  that  this 
might  be  a  feint,  he  cast  an  anxious  eye  to 
the  northward,  till  he  was  farther  informed 
that  the  British  General,  after  looking  into 
the  Delaware,  had  proceeded  to  the  Chesa 
peake. 

The  plans  of  the  invaders  were  then  clearly 
-developed.  It  was  evident  that  they  intended 
to  march  through  the  northern  part  of  the 
state  of  Delaware,  and  take  possession  of 
Philadelphia. 

To  meet  the  emergency,  the  Pennsylvania!! 
militia  were  called  out  to  rendezvous  at 
Chester,  and  those  of  New  Jersey  were  sum 
moned  at  Gloucester. 

Much  time  was  lost  to  the  British  by  their 
voyage,  in  consequence  of  unfavorable  winds. 
Though  they  set  sail  on  the  23d  of  July,  they 
did  not  arrive  at  Elk-ferry,  the  place  fixed 


142  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

upon  for  their  landing,  till  the  25th  of  August. 
General  Howe  had  no  sooner  disembarked  his 
troops,  than  he  advanced  through  the  country 
by  forced  marches,  to  within  two  miles  of  the 
American  army,  which,  having  proceeded 
rapidly  from  Jersey  to  the  present  scene  of 
action,  was  stationed  at  Newport. 


SECTION  XXI. 

CAPTURE  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  26TH  OF  SEPTEMBER, 

1776 

On  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  General 
Washington  resolved  to  dispute  their  passage 
over  the  Brandywine  creek.  In  taking  this 
step  he  appears  to  have  acted  contrary  to  his 
better  judgment.  By  throwing  himself  upon 
the  high  ground  to  his  right,  he  might  have 
brought  on  a  war  of  posts,  much  better  adapt 
ed  to  the  capacities  of  his  undisciplined  forces, 
than  a  battle  fought  on  equal  terms.  But  he 
dreaded  the  impression  which  would  be  made 
upon  the  public  feeling,  should  he  leave  the 
road  to  Philadelphia  open,  and  yielded  to  the 
general  voice,  which  called  upon  him  to  fight 
for  the  preservation  of  the  seat  of  the  Amer 
ican  government.  The  action  was  fought  at 
Chadd's  ford,  on  the  Brandywine,  on  the  llth 
of  September. 

The  battle  of  the  Brandywine  was  hence 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  143 

hazarded  by  Washington,  more  in  compliance 
with  the  public  call  for  decisive  action,  and 
the  impatience  of  delay,  than  in  accordance 
with  his  own  judgment.  His  army  was  infe 
rior  in  numbers  and  discipline,  and  he  might 
easily  have  assumed  a  position  among  the 
hills,  too  strong  to  be  forced,  which  would 
have  retarded  the  royal  troops,  and  forced 
them  to  waste  the  season  to  little  purpose. 
But  delay  had  dissatisfied  both  Congress  and 
the  public  expectation,  and  it  was  determined 
to  try  the  fortune  of  battle. 

On  this  occasion  Howe  showed  his  gene 
ralship  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  combinations. 
While  a  part  of  his  army,  under  the  command  of 
General  Knyphausen,  made  a  false  attack  at  the 
ford,  a  strong  column,  headed  by  Lord  Cornwal- 
lis,  crossing  the  Brandy  wine  at  its  fork,  turned 
the  left  of  the  Americans,  and  Knyphausen 
forcing  a  passage  at  that  moment  of  alarm 
and  confusion,  the  Americans  gave  way,  and 
retired  to  Chester,  their  retreat  being  covered 
by  Wooster's  brigade,  which  preserved  its 
ranks  unbroken.  Their  loss  in  killed  and 
wounded  amounted  to  1,200. 

Among  the  latter  was  the  Marquis  de  La 
fayette,  who,  inspired  with  zeal  for  the  cause 
of  freedom,  had,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  quit 
ted  his  country  at  considerable  hazard,  and 
entered  into  the  American  army,  in  which  he 
at  once  obtained  the  rank  of  major-general. 

On  this  occasion,  too,  Count  Pulaski,  a  noble 


144  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Pole,  who  had  distinguished  himself  at  home, 
led  on  the  light  horse  with  undaunted  courage 
and  gallantry.  As  a  reward  for  it,  Congress 
testified  their  sense  of  his  merit,  by  promo 
ting  him  to  the  rank  of  brigadier,  and  giving 
him  the  command  of  the  cavalry. 

By  the  event  of  the  battle  of  the  Brandy- 
wine  the  country  was  in  a  great  degree  open 
to  the  British.  Washington  in  vain  made  one 
or  two  attempts  to  impede  their  progress,  and 
on  the  26th  of  September,  General  Howe 
made  his  triumphant  entry  into  Philadelphia. 
On  his  approach  the  Congress,  who  had  re 
turned  thither  from  Baltimore,  once  more  took 
flight,  and  withdrew  first  to  Lancaster  and 
afterwards  to  Yorktown. 

General  Howe,  on  marching  to  the  Penn- 
sylvanian  capital,  had  left  a  considerable 
number  of  troops  at  Germantown,  a  few 
miles  from  that  place.  As  these  were  unsup 
ported  by  the  main  body  of  his  army,  Gene 
ral  Washington  determined  upon  an  attempt 
to  cut  them  oft'.  His  plan  was  well  laid,  and 
the  forces  which  he  despatched  on  this  expe 
dition  took  the  enemy  by  surprise,  and  at  first 
drove  all  before  them.  But  a  check  having 
been  given  them  by  a  small  party  of  the 
British  who  had  thrown  themselves  into  a 
stone  house,  they  were  soon  opposed  by  the 
fugitives  who  had  rallied  in  force,  and  obliged 
to  retreat  with  loss. 

The  American  loss  on  this  occasion  was 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  145 

about  200  killed,  600  wounded,  and  several 
hundred  prisoners.  Among  the  killed  was 
General  Nash,  of  North  Carolina.  Of  the 
British,  the  killed  were  about  100  in  number, 
and  the  wounded  400. 

General  Howe  immediately  broke  up  his 
encampment  at  Germantown,  and  removed 
his  whole  force  into  the  city.  However,  he 
found  the  result  very  different  from  what  he 
imagined.  Provisions  soon  grew  scarce ; 
and  Washington,  to  cut  off  his  supplies,  pro 
claimed  martial  law,  under  the  authority  of 
Congress,  against  all  citizens  who  should  at 
tempt  to  furnish  the  enemy  with  them.  Thus 
situated,  General  Howe  found,  as  Franklin 
sarcastically  remarked,  that,  "  instead  of  tak 
ing  Philadelphia,  Philadelphia  had  taken 
him." 

When  General  Howe  quitted  New  York 
for  the  purpose  of  gaining  possession  of  Phil 
adelphia,  he  was  deterred  from  making  his 
approaches  by  the  Delaware,  by  the  prepara 
tions  made  by  the  Americans  to  obstruct  the 
navigation  of  that  river.  The  principal  of 
these  consisted  of  a  fort  erected  on  Mud  Is 
land,  which  is  situated  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  about  seven  miles  below  the  city.  On 
a  height  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the  river,  called 
Red  Bank,  they  had  erected  a  strong  battery. 
The  channels  on  both  sides  of  Mud  Island 
were  closed  by  strong  and  heavy  chevaux  de 
frise,  through  which  was  left  a  single  passage 
13 


146  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

closed  by  a  boom.  As  it  was  absolutely  ne 
cessary  to  make  himself  master  of  these 
works,  in  order  to  open  a  communication 
with  his  fleet,  General  Howe  gave  orders 
that  they  should  be  forced. 

In  his  first  attack  he  was  unsuccessful.  In 
storming  the  battery  of  Red  Bank,  Count 
Donop  was  mortally  wounded,  and  his  troops 
were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss.  But 
the  bulk  of  the  chevaux  de  frise  having,  by 
diverting  the  current  of  the  river,  deepened 
the  channel  on  the  Pennsylvania  side  of  Mud 
Island,  a  ship  of  war  mounted  with  twenty- 
four  pounders  was  warped  through  it  into  a 
position  where  she  could  enfilade  the  fort, 
which,  being  no  longer  tenable,  the  garrison 
retired  from  it  to  Red  Bank.  By  these  oper 
ations  General  Howe  obtained  full  command 
of  the  Delaware,  and  by  its  means,  every  facil 
ity  for  the  conveyance  of  supplies  to  his  army. 

Mr.  Hancock  having,  on  the  29th  of  Octo 
ber  of  this  year,  resigned  the  presidency  of 
Congress,  on  the  1st  of  November  ensuing, 
Mr.  Henry  Laurens  was  appointed  to  succeed 
him. 


SECTION  XXII. 
BURGOYNE'S  EXPEDITION. 

When  the  news  of  General  Howe's  success 
arrived  in  England,  the  great  majority  of  the 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  147 

nation  were  transported  with  joy.  In  the  de 
feat  of  Washington,  the  capture  of  Philadel 
phia,  and  the  expulsion  of  Congress,  the 
members  of  which  were  represented  as  miser 
able  fugitives,  seeking  in  trembling  anxiety 
for  a  temporary  shelter  from  the  vengeance 
of  the  law,  they  fondly  saw  an  earnest  of  the 
termination  of  the  war  by  the  submission  of 
the  rebels.  But  their  exultation  was  speedily 
damped  by  the  annunciation  of  the  capture 
by  these  very  rebels  of  a  whole  British  army. 

A  cursory  inspection  of  the  map  of  the 
United  States  will  suffice  to  show,  that  for 
the  purpose  of  their  subjugation,  it  was  at 
this  period  of  high  importance  to  the  British 
to  form  a  communication  with  Canada  by 
means  of  Hudson  river.  This  would  have 
intersected  the  insurgent  provinces,  and  by 
cutting  off  their  intercourse  with  each  other, 
and  by  hemming  in  the  eastern  states,  which 
the  British  ministry  regarded  as  the  soul  of  the 
rebellious  confederacy,  would  have  exposed 
them  to  be  overran  and  conquered  in  detail. 

General  Burgoyne,  who  had  served  in  Can 
ada  in  the  campaign  of  1776,  under  General 
Carleton,  arrived  at  Quebec  in  the  beginning 
of  the  month  of  May,  1777,  and  was  followed 
by  a  large  regular  force  from  England,  de 
signed  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  United 
States  through  Lake  Champlain,  and  effect 
a  junction  with  Sir  William  at  New  York. 
This  plan  had  always  found  favor  with  the 


148  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

ministry,  and  had  been  earnestly  pressed  upon 
them  by  Burgoyne  on  his  return  from  Ameri 
ca.  It  was  hence  determined  to  provide  a 
powerful  army,  well  appointed  in  every  re 
spect,  to  make  success  certain. 

General  Howe,  therefore,  was  directed  by 
the  ministry  to  operate  with  a  part  of  his 
army  northwards  from  New  York,  while 
General  Burgoyne  was  instructed  to  enter 
the  state  of  New  York  by  its  northwestern 
frontier,  and  to  make  his  way  good  to  Albany, 
where  it  was  intended  that  he  should  form  a 
junction  with  the  forces  which  Howe  should 
send  to  co-operate  with  him.  The  expediency 
of  this  plan  was  so  obvious  that  it  did  not  es 
cape  the  foresight  of  the  Americans,  who,  in 
order  to  obviate  it,  had  strongly  fortified  Ti- 
conderoga,  and  the  adjacent  height  of  Mount 
Independence.  They  had  also  taken  meas 
ures  to  obstruct  the  passage  from  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  and  had  moreover  strengthened  the 
defences  of  the  Mohawk  river.  For  garri 
soning  these  posts,  and  for  conducting  the 
requisite  operations  in  the  field,  they  gave 
orders  to  raise  an  army  of  1 3,600  men. 

The  British  army  destined  to  act  under 
Burgoyne  consisted  of  7,000  regulars,  fur 
nished  with  every  requisite  for  war,  espe 
cially  with  a  fine  train  of  artillery.  These 
were  supported  by  a  number  of  Canadians, 
and  a  considerable  body  of  Indians.  It  was 
arranged,  in  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  that 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION, 

while  Burgoyne,  at  the  head  of  these  forces 
should  pour  into  the  state  of  New  York,  from 
Lake  Champlain,  a  detachment  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  St.  Leger  shoiild  march 
towards  Lake  Ontario,  and  penetrate  in  the 
direction  of  Albany,  by  the  Mohawk  river, 
which  falls  into  the  Hudson  a  little  above 
that  town. 

General  Burgoyne  having  arrived  at  Que 
bec,  and  immediately  putting  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  army,  he  proceeded  up  Lake 
Champlain  to  Crown  Point.  Here  he  was 
joined  by  the  Indians,  to  whom  he  made  a 
speech,  in  which  he  inculcated  upon  them  the 
virtue  of  mildness,  and  strictly  forbade  them 
to  destroy  any  persons  except  in  battle.  An 
ancient  Iroquois  chieftain,  in  the  name  of  his 
comrades,  promised  strict  compliance  with 
the  general's  injunctions. 

Having,  however,  fully  secured  the  co-oper 
ation  of  the  Indians,  he  endeavored  to  improve 
the  advantage  their  alliance  gave  him,  in  in 
timidating  the  Americans.  On  the  29th  of 
June,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  with  the  de 
sign  of  spreading  terror  among  them,  magni 
fying  the  force  of  the  armies  and  fleets  pre 
pared  to  crush  the  revolted  colonies,  and 
insisting  upon  the  numbers  and  ferocity  of 
their  Indian  allies.  Promises  of  favor  and 
support  wer%e  held  out  to  such  as  should  aid 
In  est  iblishing  the  government  of  the  king, 
-and  all  the  horrors  of  devastation  threatened 
13* 


150  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION 

against  those  who  should  persist  in  rebellion. 
Thousands  of  Indians,  he  admonished  them, 
were  ready,  at  his  bidding,  to  be  let  loose 
against  "  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Bri 
tain  and  America." 

This  proclamation  justly  provoked  some 
animadversion  in  England,  and  was  strongly 
censured  by  both  houses  of  parliament.  In 
the  United  States  it  kindled  a  general  indig 
nation  at  the  atrocity  of  its  sentiments,  min 
gled  with  derision  at  its  pompous  denuncia 
tions.  The  temper  of  the  people  was  too 
stern  for  such  intimidations,  and  his  grandilo 
quent  threats  of  Indian  massacres,  served  to 
inflame  resentment,  and  stimulate  resistance. 

From  Crown  Point  the  royal  army  directed 
its  march  to  Ticonderoga.  Here  General 
Burgoyne  expected  to  encounter  a  powerful 
opposition,  as  he  well  knew  that  the  Ameri 
cans  had  flattered  themselves  that  by  the  for 
tifications  which  they  had  erected  on  it,  they 
had  rendered  it  almost  impregnable.  But  the 
forces  which  had  been  destined  to  its  defence 
had  not  arrived.  General  St.  Clair  had  not 
men  enough  to  man  his  lines.  He  saw  his 
position  nearly  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  who 
were  erecting  a  battery  on  a  hill  which  com 
manded  his  intrenchments. 

In  these  circumstances,  a  council  of  war 
unanimously  recommended  to  their  command 
er  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  which  he 
effected  with  such  good  order  and  secre- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  151 

ey,  that  he  was  enabled  to  bring  off  a  great 
part  of  the  public  stores.  He  left  behind  him, 
however,  ninety-three  pieces  of  ordnance, 
which  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British.  The 
retreating  Americans  took  the  road  to  Skeens- 
borough,  which  is  situated  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Lake  George. 

In  their  flight  they  were  briskly  pursued 
by  General  Fraser  by  land,  while  Burgoyne 
attacked  and  destroyed  their  flotilla  on  Lake 
George  ;  and  so  closely  were  they  pressed  by 
this  combined  movement,  that  they  were  com 
pelled  to  set  fire  to  their  stores  and  boats  at 
Skeensborough,  and  take  refuge  in  Fort  Anne, 
a  few  miles  to  the  southward  of  that  place. 
Here,  however,  they  did  not  long  find  shelter. 
Their  rear-guard  was  attacked  and  routed  by 
Colonel  Fraser,  at  Hubbardton ;  and  Lieu 
tenant-colonel  Hill  having  been  sent  forward 
from  Skeensborough,  by  General  Burgoyne, 
with  the  9th  regiment  of  foot,  to  make  an 
assault  on  Fort  Anne,  the  provincials,  after  a 
short  but  brisk  engagement,  "withdrew  to 
Fort  Edward,  which  is  situated  on  the  Hud 
son  river.  Here  their  scattered  forces  being 
collected,  were  found  to  amount  to  no  more 
than  4,400  men,  who  being  unable  to  cope 
with  their  victorious  pursuers,  soon  found 
themselves  under  the  necessity  of  making 
another  retrograde  movement  in  the  direction 
of  Albany. 

This  long  series  of   successes  filled  the 


152  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

minds  of  the  British  with  exultation.  They 
had  beaten  the  enemy  in  every  encounter ; 
had  forced  them  from  their  fastnesses,  and 
entertained  sanguine  hopes  of  driving  them 
before  them  till  the  co-operating  force  which 
they  presumed  General  Howe  was  sending 
up  the  Hudson  should  intercept  their  retreat, 
and  put  them  between  two  fires.  Burgoyne 
issued  proclamations  in  the  style  of  a  con 
queror,  summoning  the  inhabitants  of  the  dis 
trict  in  which  he  was  operating  to  aid  his 
pursuit  of  the  fugitive  rebels.  The  assistance 
which  he  called  for  was  very  necessary,  not 
for  pursuit,  but  defence — his  difficulties  were 
now  commencing. 

Instead  of  falling  back  from  Skeensborough, 
to  Ticonderoga,  and  advancing  from  the  lat 
ter  place  by  Lake  George,  (a  movement 
which  he  declined,  as  having  the  appearance 
of  a  retreat,)  he  determined  to  march  across 
the  country  from  Skeensborough  to  Fort  Ed 
ward  ;  but  the  road  was  so  broken  up — it 
was  so  intersected  with  creeks  and  rivulets, 
the  bridges  over  which  had  been  broken 
down,  and  so  much  embarrassed  with  trees 
cut  down  on  each  side,  and  thrown  across  it 
with  entangled  branches,  that  it  was  with 
immense  labor  he  could  advance  a  mile  a 
day.  When  he  had  at  length  penetrated  to 
Fort  Edward,  which  he  reached  on  the  30th 
of  July,  he  found  it  abandoned  by  the  enemy, 
who  by  their  retreat  left  free  his  communica- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  153 

tion  with  Lake  George,  from  which  he  ob 
tained  supplies  of  stores  and  provisions  con 
veyed  by  land  from  Fort  George  to  Hudson 
river,  and  thence  floated  down  to  his  camp. 


SECTION  XXIII. 

FAILURE    OF    BURGOYNfi's    EXPEDITION. 

This  delay  gave  the  Americans  time  to 
recover  from  the  consternation  into  which 
they  had  been  thrown  by  the  loss  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  the  subsequent  misfortunes  of 
their  army.  Determined  to  make  amends  for 
their  previous  dilatoriness  by  instant  activity, 
they  flew  to  arms.  The  plundering  of  Jersey 
had  taught  them  that  peaceable  conduct  and 
submission  afforded  no  protection  against 
British  rapine ;  and  they  were  persuaded, 
that  whatever  might  be  the  wishes  of  General 
Burgoyne,  he  had  not  power  to  restrain  his 
Indian  auxiliaries  from  practising  their  ac 
customed  savage  mode  of  warfare.  Looking 
for  safety,  then,  only  to  their  swords,  and 
judging  from  their  knowledge  of  the  country, 
that  the  further  the  British  commander  ad 
vanced,  the  greater  would  be  his  difficulties, 
they  hastened  their  reinforcements  from  every 
town  and  hamlet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  seat 


I 


154  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

of  war,  and  soon  increased  the  army  of  St. 
Clair  to  the  number  of  13,000  men. 

While  General  Burgoyne  was  making  his 
way  to  the  Hudson,  Lieutenant-colonel  St. 
Leger  had  arrived  at  the  Mohawk  river,  and 
was  laying  siege  to  Fort  Schuyler.  Receiv 
ing  intelligence  that  General  Herkimer  was 
hastening  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  troops  to 
the  relief  of  the  place,  he  sent  a  detachment 
with  instructions  to  lie  in  ambush  on  his  line 
of  march,  and  to  cut  him  off.  These  instruc 
tions  were  so  well  obeyed,  that  Herkimer  fell 
into  the  snare,  his  troops  were  dispersed,  and 
he  himself  was  killed.  St.  Leger  now  enter 
tained  sanguine  hopes  of  speedily  taking  the 
fort ;  but  the  Indians  who  composed  a  con 
siderable  part  of  his  little  army,  taking  alarm 
at  the  news  of  the  approach  of  General  Ar 
nold,  at  the  head  of  a  detachment,  whose 
numbers  were  purposely  exaggerated  by  an 
American  emissary  in  their  camp,  insisted  on 
an  immediate  retreat.  This  mutiny  com 
pelled  St.  Leger  to  raise  the  siege,  and  to  re 
tire  to  Canada,  leaving  behind  him  a  great 
part  of  his  artillery  and  stores. 

When  General  Burgoyne  was  informed  of 
the  arrival  of  St.  Leger  before  Fort  Schuyler, 
he  thought  it  very  expedient  to  make  a  for 
ward  movement  towards  Albany,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  co-operating  with  that  officer,  and 
also  with  the  British  troops  who  were,  as  he 
expected,  advancing  up  the  Hudson.  The 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  155 

principal  objection  to  this  step  was,  that  it 
would  necessarily  remove  him  to  a  perilous 
distance  from  his  supplies,  which  were  col 
lected  at  Fort  Edward.  With  a  view,  there 
fore,  of  procuring  a  plentiful  stock  of  provi 
sions  from  a  nearer  point,  he  despatched 
Lieutenant-colonel  Baum  with  600  men,  of 
whom  100  were  Indians,  with  instructions  to 
seize  and  convey  to  his  camp  a  considerable 
magazine  of  flour  and  other  supplies  which 
the  Americans  had  established  at  Benning- 
ton,  in  the  district  of  Vermont. 

Baum,  being  erroneously  informed  that  the 
inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  country  were 
favorably  disposed  towards  the  British,  march 
ed  forwards  without  due  precaution,  till,  on 
approaching  Bennington,  he  found  the  enemy 
assembled  in  force  in  his  front.  In  this  exi 
gency  he  took  possession  of  an  advantageous 
gost,  where  he  intrenched  himself,  and  sent  to 
urgoyne  for  succor.  Colonel  Breyman  was 
detached  to  reinforce  him  ;  but  before  the  ar 
rival  of  that  officer,  the  fate  of  his  country 
man  was  decided.  Baum  had  been  attacked 
by  the  American  General  Stark,  had  lost  his 
field-pieces,  and  had  witnessed  the  death  or 
capture  of  most  of  his  detachment.  On  his 
arrival  at  the  scene  of  slaughter,  Breyman 
was  also  vigorously  assailed,  and  compelled 
to  retreat  with  the  loss  of  his  artillery.  The 
royalists  lost  in  these  two  battles  about  700 


156  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

men,  the  greater  part  prisoners.  The  Amer 
ican  loss  was  about  70. 

The  failure  of  this  expedition  was  most 
disastrous  to  the  British  commander-in-chief, 
who,  being  disappointed  of  receiving  the  ex 
pected  supplies  from  Vermont,  was  obliged 
to  await  the  arrival  of  provisions  from  Fort 
George,  by  which  he  was  delayed  from  the 
15th  of  August  to  the  13th  of  September. 
This  interval  of  time  was  well  improved  by 
the  Americans,  who,  flushed  with  their  suc 
cess  against  Baum  and  Breyman,  pressed  on 
the  British  with  increased  numbers  and  in 
creased  confidence.  They  were  also  cheered 
to  vigorous  exertion  by  the  arrival  at  this 
critical  moment  of  General  Gates,  who  was 
commissioned  by  Congress  to  take  the  com 
mand  of  the  northern  army. 

After  most  anxious  deliberation,  Gene 
ral  Burgoyne,  having  by  extraordinary  ex 
ertions  collected  provisions  for  thirty  days, 
crossed  the  Hudson  river  on  the  13th  of  Sep 
tember,  and  advanced  to  within  two  miles  of 
General  Gates's  camp,  which  was  situated 
about  three  miles  to  the  northward  of  Still- 
water.  Gates  boldly  advanced  to  meet  him, 
and  a  hard-fought  battle  ensued,  which,  though 
not  decisive,  was  very  detrimental  to  the 
British,  as  it  shook  the  fidelity  of  their  Indian 
allies  and  of  the  Canadians,  who  now  began 
to  desert  in  great  numbers. 

The  desertion  of  the  Indians  was  accele- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  157 

rated  by  the  following  tragical  incident.  Miss 
JVTRea,  an  American  lady,  who  resided  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  British  encampment,  being  en 
gaged  to  marry  Captain  Jones,  an  officer  of 
Burgoyne's  army,  her  lover,  being  anxious  for 
her  safety,  as  he  understood  that  her  attach 
ment  to  himself  and  the  loyalty  of  her  father 
had  rendered  her  an  object  of  persecution  to 
her  countrymen,  engaged  some  Indians  to  es 
cort  her  within  the  British  lines,  promising  to 
reward  the  person  who  should  bring  her  safe 
to  him,  with  a  barrel  of  rum.  Two  of  these 
emissaries  having  found  the  destined  bride, 
and  communicated  to  her  their  commission, 
she,  without  hesitation,  consented  to  accom 
pany  them  to  the  place  of  meeting  appointed 
by  Captain  Jones.  But  her  guides  unhappily 
quarrelling  on  the  way,  as  to  which  of  them 
should  present  her  to  Mr.  Jones  and  receive 
the  promised  recompense,  one  of  them,  to 
terminate  the  dispute,  cleft  her  skull  with  his 
tomahawk,  and  laid  her  dead  at  his  feet. 

This  transaction  struck  the  whole  British 
army  with  horror.  General  Burgoyne,  on 
hearing  of  it,  indignantly  demanded  that  the 
murderer  should  be  given  up  to  condign  pun 
ishment.  Prudential  considerations,  however, 
prevented  his  being  put  to  death,  as  he  well 
deserved.  Burgoyne  was  of  opinion,  that  his 
pardon  upon  terms  would  be  more  efficacious 
in  preventing  further  barbarities  than  his  ex 
ecution  :  he,  therefore,  spared  his  life,  upon. 
14 


158  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

condition  that  his  countrymen  would,  from 
that  time  forth,  abstain  from  perpetrating  any 
cruelties  on  the  unarmed  inhabitants,  or  on 
those  whom  they  had  vanquished  in  battle. 

As  the  Earl  of  Harrington  at  a  subsequent 
period  stated  in  his  examination  before  the 
House  of  Commons,  he  told  their  interpreter 
"  that  he  would  lose  every  Indian  rather  than 
connive  at  their  enormities."  The  savages 
at  first  seemed  willing  to  comply  with  his  re 
newed  injunctions  ;  but  resentment  rankled  in 
their  breasts  at  his  interference  with  their 
habits  of  warfare,  the  respect  with  which 
they  had  once  looked  up  to  him  was  impaired 
by  their  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  of  his 
situation,  and  they  soon  began  to  quit  the 
camp,  loaded  with  their  accumulated  plun 
der. 

Thus  checked  in  his  progress,  and  deserted 
by  his  allies,  Burgoyne  sent  urgent  letters  to 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  commanded  at  New 
York,  entreating  him  to  hasten  forwards  the 
co-operative  forces  on  which  he  relied  for 
safety  and  success,  and  apprizing  him  that 
want  of  provisions  would  preclude  him  from 
remaining  in  his  present  position  beyond 
the  12th  of  October.  This  renewed  delay 
dispirited  his  own  troops,  and  swelled  the 
numbers  of  the  hostile  army,  which  received 
recruits  from  every  quarter. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  Burgoyne  in  person, 
accompanied  by  Generals  Phillips,  Reidesel,, 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  159 

and  Fraser,  issued  from  his  camp  at  the  head 
of  1,500  men,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
reconnoissance  and  of  foraging.  This  move 
ment  brought  on  a  general  engagement,  at 
the  close  of  which  the  British  were  driven 
within  their  lines,  and  a  part  of  them  was 
forced.  This  circumstance  compelled  Bur- 
goyne  to  change  his  position,  which  manoeuvre 
he  performed  in  a  masterly  manner,  and  with 
out  sustaining  any  loss.  It  was,  indeed,  from 
this  time,  the  policy  of  the  American  general 
to  avoid  a  pitched  battle,  and  to  reduce  his 
enemy  by  harassing  him  and  cutting  off  his 
retreat,  and  depriving  him  of  supplies. 

The  situation  of  General  Burgoyne  was 
most  distressing.  By  extraordinary  efforts  he 
had  forced  his  way  to  within  a  few  miles  of 
Albany,  the  point  of  his  destination,  and  had 
he  been  seconded  by  correspondent  exertions 
on  the  part  of  the  British  southern  army,  he 
would  have  effected  the  object  of  his  cam 
paign,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  seems  to  have  had 
no  precise  or  early  instructions  as  to  co-ope 
rating  with  him.  Certain  it  is,  that  it  was 
not  till  the  3d  of  October  that  he  moved  up 
the  Hudson  to  his  assistance.  Sir  Henry 
easily  surmounted  every  obstacle  which  pre 
sented  itself  on  his  route.  He  took  Fort 
Montgomery  by  assault,  and  by  removing  a 
boom  and  chain  which  was  stretched  from 
that  fortress  across  the  Hudson,  he  opened 
the  navigation  of  that  river  to  his  flotilla, 


160  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

which,  with  a  fair  wind,  might  have  speedily 
made  its  passage  to  Half  Moon,  within  six 
teen  miles  of  Gates's  encampment. 

But  instead  of  hastening  to  the  relief  of 
their  countrymen,  the  several  divisions  of 
Clinton's  army  employed  themselves  in  plun 
dering  and  burning  the  towns  and  villages 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  in  the 
adjacent  country.  Among  those  who  dis 
tinguished  themselves  in  this  predatory  war 
fare,  General  Vaughan  rendered  himself  pre 
eminently  conspicuous.  Having  been  ordered 
to  advance  up  the  river,  by  Sir  Henry  Clin 
ton,  he  landed  at  the  town  of  j;Esopus,  or 
Kingston,  a  fine  and  flourishing  village  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  finding  it 
evacuated  by  the  American  forces,  to  whom  its 
defence  had  been  intrusted,  though  he  did  not 
encounter  the  slightest  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants,  he  permitted  his  troops  to 
plunder  it,  and  afterwards  so  completely  re 
duced  it  to  ashes,  that  he  did  not  leave  a 
single  house  standing. 

This  outrage  excited  a  cry  of  indignation 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  drew  from 
General  Gates  a  letter  of  severe  remonstrance. 
But  the  British  had  much  more  reason  to  in 
culpate  Vaughan  than  the  Americans.  His 
delay  at  ^Esopus  sealed  the  ruin  of  the  royal 
cause.  Vaughan  was  at  ^Esopus  on  the  13th 
of  October.  The  tide  of  flood  would  have 
borne  him,  in  four  hours,  to  Albany,  where  he 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  161 

might  have  destroyed  Gates's  stores,  and  thus 
have  reduced  the  American  general  to  the 
necessity  of  liberating  General  Burgoyne, 
who  did  not  surrender  till  the  16th,  and  of 
retreating  into  New  England.  Upon  such 
narrow  turns  of  contingencies  does  the  issue 
of  the  combinations  of  warfare  frequently 
depend. 


SECTION  XXIV. 

CONVENTION    OF  SARATOGA,  13TH  OF  OCTOBER, 

1777. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  difficulties  in  which 
Burgoyne  was  involved  were  hourly  accumu 
lating.  With  a  view  of  cutting  off  his  re 
treat,  Gates  posted  1,400  men  opposite  the 
fords  of  Saratoga,  and  2,000  more  on  the 
road  from  that  place  to  Fort  Edward.  On 
receiving  intelligence  of  this,  Burgoyne  re 
treated  to  Saratoga,  leaving  his  sick  and 
wounded  to  the  humanity  of  the  enemy. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  force  his  way  over 
the  fords  of  Saratoga,  he  attempted  to  open 
to  his  army  a  passage  to  Lake  George  ;  but 
the  artificers,  whom  he  sent  under  a  strong 
escort  to  repair  the  bridges  on  the  road  thither, 
were  driven  away  by  the  American  forces. 
The  road  to  Fort  Edward,  also,  was  found  by 
14* 


162  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

the  scouts  who  had  been  sent  to  reconnoitre 
in  that  direction,  to  be  strongly  guarded. 
When  the  13th  of  October  arrived,  Burgoyne 
had  received  no  satisfactory  tidings  from 
Clinton's  army.  He  saw  himself  in  a  man 
ner  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  whose  cannon- 
shot  flew  in  every  direction  through  his  camp. 
Though  he  had  for  some  time  past  put  his 
troops  on  short  allowance,  he  found  on  in 
spection  that  he  had  only  three  days'  rations 
left  in  his  stores.  In  these  trying  circum 
stances,  with  a  heavy  heart  he  summoned  a 
council  of  war,  which  came  to  a  unanimous 
resolution,  that  in  their  present  position  they 
would  be  justified  in  accepting  a  capitulation 
on  honorable  terms. 

A  negotiation  was  accordingly  opened. 
After  discussion,  a  convention  was  at  length 
agreed  upon,  the  principal  conditions  of  which 
were,  "  that  the  British  troops  were  to  march 
out  of  their  camp  with  the  honors  of  war 
and  the  artillery  of  the  intrenchments  to  the 
verge  of  the  river,  where  the  arms  and  the 
artillery  were  to  be  left ;  the  arms  to  be  piled 
by  word  of  command  from  their  own  officers ; 
and  that  a  free  passage  was  to  be  granted  to 
the  army  to  Great  Britain,  upon  condition  of 
not  serving  again  in  North  America  during 
the  present  contest." 

These  terms  were  honorable  to  the  mod 
eration  and  magnanimity  of  the  American 
general,  especially  as  at  the  time  he  was  in 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  163 

possession  of  tidings  of  the  atrocious  conduct 
of  the  British  on  the  Hudson. 

Though  the  first  proposals  of  General  Gates 
were  harsh,  his  subsequent  conduct  was 
marked  with  the  characteristics  of  concilia 
tion  and  delicacy.  When  the  convention  was 
signed,  he  withdrew  his  troops  into  their  lines, 
to  spare  the  British  the  pain  of  piling  their 
arms  in  the  presence  of  a  triumphant  enemy. 
He  received  the  vanquished  general  with  the 
respect  due  to  his  valor  and  to  his  military 
skill ;  and  in  an  entertainment  which  he  gave 
at  his  quarters  to  the  principal  British  officers, 
his  urbanity  and  kindness  soothed  the  morti 
fication  which  could  not  but  embitter  their 
spirits. 

By  the  convention  of  Saratoga,  5,790  men 
surrendered  as  prisoners ;  and  besides  the 
muskets  piled  by  these  captives,  thirty-five 
brass  field-pieces,  and  a  variety  of  stores  were 
given  up  to  the  victors.  The  American  army, 
at  this  time,  to  which  Burgoyne  surrendered, 
amounted  to  about  fifteen  thousand  men,  of 
whom  ten  thousand  were  regulars. 

The  tidings  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne's 
army  circulated  rapidly,  and  was  received 
with  unbounded  exultation.  As  a  presage  of 
future  victories,  it  was  invaluable  to  the  mili 
tary  spirit  of  the  people,  and  was  hailed  with 
transports  of  joy  as  a  certain  pledge  of  the 
speedy  establishment  of  independence.  It 
was  also  justly  esteemed  as  giving  such  an 


164  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

assurance  of  success,  as  would  not  fail  to  se 
cure  foreign  alliances  and  European  acknow 
ledgments  of  the  United  States  as  an  inde 
pendent  power. 


SECTION  XXV. 

TREATY    WITH    FRANCE,    6TH    OF    FEBRUARY,    1778. 

Immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne,  Gates  moved  down  the  Hudson  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  devastation  of  the  country  by 
Clinton's  army,  which,  on  his  approach,  re 
tired  to  New  York.  He  then  sent  forward  a 
considerable  reinforcement  to  General  Wash 
ington,  who  soon  after  its  arrival  advanced 
to  White  Marsh,  within  fourteen  miles  of 
Philadelphia,  where  he  encamped  in  a  strong 
position.  When  General  Howe  received  in 
telligence  of  this  movement,  he  marched  out 
of  his  quarters  on  the  night  of  the  4th  of  De 
cember  ;  but  after  various  manoeuvres,  find 
ing  that  he  could  gain  no  advantage  over  his 
vigilant  adversary,  he  returned  to  Philadel 
phia. 

Washington  then  took  up  his  winter-quar 
ters  about  sixteen  miles  from  the  city,  at  a 
place  called  Valley  Forge,  where  his  men, 
ill-supplied  as  they  were  with  clothing,  blank 
ets,  and  other  comforts,  cheerfully  constructed 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  165 

huts  to  shelter  themselves  from  the  inclemen 
cy  of  the  season.  By  taking  up  this  position 
he  protected  the  province  of  Pennsylvania 
from  the  incursions  of  the  enemy,  and  reduced 
the  fruits  of  Howe's  various  successes  to  the 
occupation  of  a  single  additional  city — an 
advantage  by  no  means  calculated  to  console 
the  British  for  the  loss  of  an  able  general 
and  a  gallant  army. 

General  Burgoyne  had  drunk  deep  of  the 
bitter  cup  of  affliction  at  Saratoga ;  but  he 
was  doomed  to  suffer  still  further  mortifica 
tion.  As  the  British  regarded  the  Americans 
as  rebels,  they  did  not  always  in  the  course 
of  hostilities  observe  towards  them  those  rules 
which  guide  the  conduct  of  nations  engaged 
in  war  against  a  foreign  enemy.  The  truth 
of  history,  indeed,  cannot  suppress  the  melan 
choly  fact,  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  con 
test,  and,  occasionally,  during  its  progress, 
the  treatment  of  the  American  prisoners,  on 
the  part  of  the  British  authorities,  was  ex 
tremely  harsh  and  severe  ;  and  that  capitula 
tions  made  with  such  portions  of  the  patriotic 
army  as  had  by  the  fortune  of  war  been  re 
duced  to  a  surrender,  had  not  always  been 
observed  with  courtesy,  or  even  with  a  due 
and  strict  regard  to  their  essential  provi 
sions. 

The  Congress,  reflecting  on  these  incidents, 
felt  no  small  apprehension  that  if  the  army 
which  had  surrendered  at  Saratoga  should  be 


166  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

allowed  to  embark,  instead  of  sailing  for  Eng 
land,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  capitula 
tion,  it  would  join  the  forces  of  General  Howe. 
They  therefore  studied  to  find  a  pretext  for 
breaking  the  convention.  For  this  purpose 
they  addressed  a  number  of  queries  to  Gene 
ral  Gates,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
British  had  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  their 
surrender,  but  he  assured  them  that  on  the 
part  of  the  British  the  convention  had  been 
exactly  observed. 

The  pretext,  however,  which  they  could  not 
obtain  from  their  gallant  countryman,  was 
supplied  by  the  imprudence  of  Burgoyne. 
Among  other  articles  of  the  convention,  it 
had  been  stipulated  that  the  captive  British 
officers  should,  during  their  stay  in  America, 
be  accommodated  with  quarters  correspond 
ent  to  their  rank.  This  stipulation  having 
been  but  ill  observed  in  the  crowded  bar 
racks  at  Cambridge,  near  Boston,  where  the 
surrendered  army  was  quartered,  Burgoyne 
addressed  to  Gates  a  letter  of  remonstrance 
on  this  subject,  in  which  he  declared  that  by 
the  treatment  which  his  officers  had  experi 
enced,  "  the  public  faith,  plighted  at  Saratoga, 
had  been  broken  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States." 

Gates,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  trans 
mitted  this  letter  to  Congress,  who  read  it 
with  joy ;  and  affecting  to  find  in  the  phrase 
above  quoted,  a  pretext  set  up  by  the  British 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  167 

general  to  vindicate  a  meditated  violation  of/ 
the  convention,  they  resolved  that  "  the  em 
barkation  of  General  Burgoyne  and  the  troops 
under  his  command  should  be  suspended  till 
a  distinct  and  explicit  ratification  of  the  con 
vention  of  Saratoga  should  be  properly  noti 
fied  by  the  court  of  Great  Britain." 

In  vain  did  Burgoyne  remonstrate  against 
this  resolution — in  vain  did  he  explain  his 
phraseology,  and  offer  to  give  any  conceiva 
ble  pledge  of  the  sincerity  of  his  intentions  to 
fulfil  his  engagements.  The  Congress  was 
inexorable — his  troops  remained  as  prisoners  ; 
and  after  wasting  some  time  in  vain  endeav 
ors  to  procure  them  redress,  he  sailed  on  his 
parole  for  England,  where  he  was  refused 
admittance  into  the  presence  of  his  sovereign, 
denied  the  justice  of  a  court-martial  on  his 
conduct,  and  subjected  to  a  series  of  ministe 
rial  persecutions — grievous,  indeed,  to  a  sen 
sitive  mind,  but,  in  effect,  more  disgraceful  to 
their  inflictors  than  to  their  victim. 

At  the  time  when  the  American  leaders 
contemplated  the  declaration  of  independ 
ence,  they  entertained  sanguine  hopes  that 
the  rivalry  which  had  so  long  subsisted  be 
tween  France  and  England  would  induce  the 
former  power  to  assist  them  in  throwing  off 
the  yoke  of  the  mother  country ;  and  early  in 
the  year  1776,  the  congress  sent  Silas  Deane 
as  their  accredited  agent  to  Paris,  where  he 
was  afterwards  joined  by  Dr.  Franklin  and 


168  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

Arthur  Lee,  and  instructed  to  solicit  the 
French  court  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of  alliance 
and  commerce  with  the  United  States.  The 
celebrity  of  Franklin  gained  him  the  respect, 
and  his  personal  qualities  obtained  him  the 
esteem  of  individuals  of  the  highest  rank  in* 
the  French  capital. 

But  the  Comte  de  Vergennes,  then  prime 
minister,  acted  with  caution.  He  gave  the 
Americans  secret  aid,  and  connived  at  various 
measures  which  their  agents  took  to  further 
their  cause,  by  the  procuring  of  arms  and 
military  stores,  and  by  annoying  the  British 
commerce.  The  encouragement  which  Frank 
lin  and  his  associates  received,  varied  accord 
ing  to  the  success  or  disasters  of  the  American 
forces.  But  the  capture  of  Burgoyne's  army 
decided  the  hesitating  counsels  of  France ; 
and  on  the  6th  of  February,  1778,  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty  acknowledged  and  guar 
antied  the  independence  of  the  United  States, 
and  entered  into  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  com 
merce  with  the  infant  republic  of  North 
America. 

Of  this  circumstance  the  French  ambassa 
dor,  on  the  13th  of  March,  gave  official  notice 
to  his  majesty's  ministers  in  a  rescript  couched 
in  respectful  terms,  but  concluding  with  an  in 
timation,  "  that  the  French  king,  being  deter 
mined  efFectudlly  to  protect  the  lawful  com 
merce  of  his  subjects,  and  to  maintain  the 
dignity  of  his  flag,  had,  in  consequence,  taken 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

effectual  measures  for  these  purposes,  in  con 
cert  with  the  United  States  of  America." 

With  whatever  urbanity  this  communica 
tion  mi^ht  be  made  by  the  ambassador,  the 
British  ministers  regarded  it,  as  it  was  in 
tended  to  be,  as  a  declaration  of  war ;  and 
on  the  17th  of  March  they  notified  its  recep 
tion  to  the  House  of  Commons.  Their  notifi 
cation  was  accompanied  by  a  message  from 
the  king,  expressing  the  necessity  he  was 
under  to  resent  this  unprovoked  aggression, 
and  his  firm  reliance  on  the  zealous  and  affec 
tionate  support  of  his  faithful  people.  To 
this  message  the  Commons  returned  a  dutiful 
answer,  assuring  his  majesty  that  they  would 
stand  by  him  in  asserting  the  dignity  of  the 
crown,  and  the  honor  of  the  nation. 


SECTION  XXVI. 

REJECTION  OF  LORD  NORTH*S  OVERTURES,  JUNE, 

1778. 

The  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Gene 
ral  Burgoyne  and  his  army  overwhelmed  Lord 
North  with  dismay  ;  and  the  annunciation  of 
the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
France  at  once  dissipated  the  feeble  hope 
which  he  might  yet  have  entertained  of  sub 
duing  the  revolted  colonies  by  force  of  arms, 
15 


170  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

His  only  remaining  resource,  then,  to  prevent 
that  jewel  from  being  forever  torn  from  the 
British  crown,  was  to  form,  by  an  act  of  par 
liament,  a  kind  of  federal  union  with  the 
North  American  provinces,  which,  while  it 
reserved  their  allegiance  to  the  British  sove 
reign,  should  virtually  concede  to  them  the 
entire  management  of  their  internal  concerns. 

With  this  view,  on  the  17th  of  February, 
1778,  he  introduced  into  the  House  of  Com 
mons  two  conciliatory  bills,  by  which  he  pro 
posed  to  concede  to  the  colonies  every  thing 
which  they  had  demanded  before  their  decla 
ration  of  independence,  viz.,  exemption  from 
internal  parliamentary  taxation,  the  appoint 
ment  of  their  own  governors  and  superior 
magistrates ;  and,  moreover,  an  exemption 
from  the  keeping  up  of  any  military  force  in 
any  of  the  colonies  without  the  consent  of 
their  respective  assemblies.  It  was  provided, 
that  commissioners  should  be  appointed  by 
the  crown,  to  negotiate  with  Congress  on  the 
basis  of  these  propositions. 

The  speech  in  which  his  lordship  introduced 
these  bills  into  the  House  of  Commons  was 
marked  by  a  curious  mixture  of  humiliation 
of  tone,  and  affected  confidence  and  courage. 
The  coercive  acts,  which  under  his  influence 
had  been  passed  into  laws,  were,  said  he,  such 
as  appeared  to  be  necessary  at  the  time,  though 
in  the  event  they  had  produced  effects  which 
he  had  never  intended. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  171 

As  soon  as  he  found  that  they  had  failed 
in  their  object,  before  a  sword  was  drawn 
he  brought  forward  a  conciliatory  propo 
sition,  (meaning  the  act  for  admitting  to 
the  king's  peace  any  individual  colonies 
which  might  make  the  requisite  concessions ;) 
but  that,  in  consequence  of  the  proposition 
having  been  made  the  subject  of  debate  in 
parliament,  it  went  damned  to  America,  so 
that  the  Congress  conceived,  or  took  occasion  to 
represent  it,  as  a  scheme  for  sowing  divisions, 
and  introducing  taxation  among  them  in  a 
worse  mode  than  the  former.  Then,  making 
a  fatal  admission  of  the  trifling  nature  of  the 
object  which  had  produced  so  much  ill  blood 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country, 
he  confessed  that  his  idea  never  had  been  to 
draw  any  considerable  revenue  from  Ameri 
ca  ;  that  his  wish  was,  that  the  colonists 
should  contribute  in  a  very  low  proportion  to 
the  expenses  of  Great  Britain. 

He  was  very  well  aware  that  American 
taxation  could  never  produce  a  beneficial 
revenue,  and  that  many  taxes  could  not  be 
laid  or  collected  in  the  colonies.  The  stamp- 
act,  however,  seemed  to  be  judiciously  chosen 
as  a  fiscal  experiment,  as  it  interested  every 
man  who  had  any  dealing  or  property  to  de 
fend  or  recover,  in  the  collection  of  the  tax 
and  the  execution  of  the  statute  ;  but  this  ex 
periment  had  failed,  in  consequence  of  the 
obstinacy  of  the  Americans  in  transacting  all 


172  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

business  without  using  the  stamps  prescribed 
by  law. 

The  act  enabling  the  East  India  Company 
to  send  tea  to  America  on  their  own  account, 
and  with  the  drawback  of  the  whole  duty 
in  England,  was  a  relief  instead  of  an  oppres 
sion  ;  but  this  measure  had  been  defeated  by 
contraband  traders,  who  had  too  successfully 
misrepresented  it  as  an  invasion  of  colonial 
rights.  Having  thus  detailed  the  difficulties 
with  which  ministers  had  been  called  to 
struggle  in  legislating  for  so  perverse  a  gen 
eration  as  the  Americans  had  proved  them 
selves  to  be,  his  lordship  then  proceeded  to 
open  his  plan,  the  outline  of  which  has  been 
given  above.  And,  in  descanting  on  the 
ample  powers  with  which  he  proposed  to  in 
vest  the  commissioners,  and  foreseeing  that 
the  Americans  might  refuse  to  treat  with 
these  agents  of  the  sovereign  without  a  pre 
vious  acknowledgment  of  their  independence, 
he  humbled  himself  so  far  as  to  say,  that  he 
\vould  not  insist  on  their  renouncing  their  in 
dependence  till  the  treaty  should  receive  its 
final  ratification  from  the  king  and  parlia 
ment  of  Great  Britain.  And  then,  in  a  man 
ner  confessing  that,  instead  of  a  sovereign  as 
sembly,  the  parliament  was  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  supplicant  to  the  mutinous  col 
onies,  he  proposed  that  the  commissioners 
should  be  instructed  to  negotiate  with  them 
for  some  reasonable  and  moderate  contribu- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  173 

tion  towards  the  common  defence  of  the  em 
pire  when  reunited ;  but,  to  take  away  all 
pretence  for  not  terminating  this  unhappy 
difference,  the  contribution  was  not  to  be  in 
sisted  on  as  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  treaty  ;  but 
that  if  the  Americans  should  refuse  so  rea 
sonable  and  equitable  a  proposition,  they 
were  not  to  look  for  support  from  that  part 
of  the  empire  to  whose  expense  they  had  re 
fused  to  contribute. 

Weakly  attempting  to  obviate  the  imputa 
tion  that  these  pacific  measures  were  the 
fruit  of  fear,  occasioned  by  the  recent  suc 
cesses  of  the  insurgents,  he  called  the  House 
to  witness  that  he  had  declared  for  concilia 
tion  at  the  beginning  of  the  session,  when  he 
thought  that  the  victories  of  General  Howe 
had  been  more  decisive,  and  when  he  knew 
nothing  of  the  misfortunes  of  Burgoyne.  He 
acknowledged  that  the  events  of  the  war  had 
turned  out  very  differently  from  his  expecta 
tion,  but  maintained  that  for  the  disappoint 
ment  of  the  hopes  of  the  public  no  blame  was 
imputable  to  himself ;  that  he  had  promised 
that  a  great  army  should  be  sent  out,  and  a 
great  army,  an  army  of  upwards  of  60,000 
men,  had  been  sent  out ;  that  he  had  prom 
ised  that  a  great  fleet  should  be  employed, 
and  a  great  fleet  had  been  employed  ;  that 
he  had  engaged  that  this  army  and  this  fleet 
should  be  provided  with  every  kind  of  supply, 
and  that  they  had  been  supplied  most  amply 
15* 


174  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

and  liberally,  and  might  be  so  for  years  to 
come ;  and  that  if  the  House  was  deceived, 
they  had  deceived  themselves. 

The  prime  minister,  having  thus  by  impli 
cation  attributed  the  failure  of  his  plans  to 
the  commanders  of  the  British  forces  em 
ployed  to  conduct  the  war,  concluded  his 
speech  by  a  boastful  assertion,  that  the 
strength  of  the  nation  was  still  entire ;  that 
its  resources  were  ample,  and  that  it  was  able, 
if  it  were  necessary,  to  carry  on  the  war 
much  longer. 

The  disavowal  on  the  part  of  the  prime 
minister  of  any  intention  to  raise  a  reve 
nue  in  America,  seems  to  have  given  no  little 
umbrage  to  the  country  gentlemen,  whose 
organ,  Mr.  Baldwin,  exclaimed,  that  he  had 
been  deceived  by  the  minister ;  that  three 
years  ago  he  had  asked  him  whether  a  reve 
nue  was  meant  by  the  measures  he  then  pro 
posed  to  enforce  ;  that  he  was  answered  it 
was,  and  that  upon  that  ground  alone  he  had 
hitherto  voted  with  the  ministry. 

The  regular  opposition  were,  upon  the 
whole,  more  moderate  than  the  landed  aris 
tocracy.  Mr.  Fox  approved  of  Lord  North's 
propositions,  which,  he  reminded  him,  were 
in  substance  the  same  as  those  which  were 
in  vain  brought  forward  by  Mr.  Burke  about 
three  years  before.  He  did  not,  however,  re 
strain  himself  from  making  some  severe  an 
imadversions  on  the  policy  of  the  premier,  all 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  175 

whose  arguments,  he  asserted,  might  be  col 
lected  into  one  point,  his  excuses  all  reduced 
to  one  apology — his  total  ignorance. 

"  He  hoped,"  exclaimed  the  indignant  ora 
tor,  "  he  hoped,  and  was  disappointed ;  he  ex 
pected  a  great  deal,  and  found  little  to  answer 
his  expectations.  He  thought  the  Americans 
would  have  submitted  to  his  laws,  and  they 
resisted  them.  He  thought  they  would  have 
submitted  to  his  armies,  and  they  were  beaten 
by  inferior  numbers.  He  made  conciliatory 
propositions,  and  he  thought  they  would  suc 
ceed,  but  they  were  rejected.  He  appointed 
commissioners  to  make  peace,  and  he  thought 
they  had  powers ;  but  he  found  they  could 
not  make  peace,  and  nobody  believed  they 
had  any  powers.  He  had  said  many  such 
things  as  he  had  thought  fit  in  his  conciliatory 
propositions ;  he  thought  it  a  proper  method 
of  quieting  the  Americans  upon  the  affair  of 
taxation. 

"  If  any  person  should  give  himself  the 
trouble  of  reading  that  proposition,  he  would 
find  not  one  word  of  it  cDrrespondent  to  the 
representation  made  of  it  by  its  framer.  The 
short  account  of  it  was,  that  the  noble  lord  in 
the  proposition  assured  the  colonies,  that 
when  Parliament  had  taxed  them  as  much 
as  they  thought  proper,  they  would  tax  them 
no  more/'  In  conclusion,  however,  Mr.  Fox 
said  "  that  he  would  vote  for  the  present  pro 
position,  because  it  was  much  more  clear  and 


176  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

satisfactory,  for  necessity  had  caused  him  to 
speak  plain." 

The  conciliatory  bills,  in  their  passage 
through  the  two  Houses,  excited  many  ani 
mated  debates,  in  the  course  of  which  Lord 
North  was  exposed  to  much  animadversion, 
which  he  seems  to  have  borne  with  great 
equanimity.  At  length,  all  points  relative  to 
them  being  settled  by  Parliament,  they  were 
sanctioned  by  the  royal  assent.  But  the  ur 
gency  of  danger  would  not  allow  ministers  to 
wait  till  they  were  passed  into  a  law ;  and 
the  same  statesmen  who  had  a  little  time 
before  treated  the  petitions  of  the  colonies 
with  scorn  and  contempt,  hastened  to  com 
municate  their  propositions,  while  yet  in  the 
shape  of  bills,  to  the  Congress,  in  hopes  that 
the  adoption  on  their  part  of  a  milder  policy 
might  be  met  with  a  similar  spirit  of  concilia 
tion  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  These 
documents  were  despatched  in  such  haste, 
that  they  arrived  at  New  York  in  time  to  be 
presented  by  Sir  William  Howe  to  the  Con 
gress,  before  that  assembly  had  received  in 
telligence  of  the  signature  of  their  treaty,  of 
alliance  with  France. 

The  American  legislators  did  not,  however, 
hesitate  as  to  the  line  of  conduct  which  in 
these  circumstances  it  became  them  to  pur 
sue.  They  peremptorily  rejected  the  propo 
sals  of  Lord  North  as  insidious  and  unsatis 
factory.  During  the  progress  of  the  concilia- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  177 

tory  bills,  and  after  their  passing,  frequent 
and  animated  debates  took  place  in  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  relative  to  the  foreign 
and  domestic  policy  of  the  country. 

In  the  House  of  Lords,  the  Duke  of  Rich 
mond  took  the  lead  in  discussing  these  subjects, 
and  on  the  7th  of  April,  he  made  an  impres 
sive  speech  on  the  state  of  the  nation,  in 
which  he  maintained,  that  the  salvation  of 
the  country  required  the  withdrawing  of  the 
British  troops  from  North  America,  and  even 
not  obscurely  hinted  that  for  the  acquisition 
of  peace,  it  would  be  politic  to  agree  to  the 
independence  of  the  colonies.  As  his  grace's 
sentiments  on  the  latter  point  were  no  secret, 
and  as  it  was  to  be  expected  that  he  would 
propound  them  on  this  occasion,  Lord  Chat 
ham,  now  laboring  under  the  weight  of  seventy 
years,  rendered  more  heavy  by  acute  bodily 
suffering,  regardless  of  his  infirmities,  attend 
ed  in  his  place  for  the  purpose  of  raising  his 
voice  against  the  duke's  proposition. 

'*  My  lords,"  exclaimed  the  venerable  ora 
tor,  "  I  rejoice  that  the  grave  has  not  closed 
upon  me,  and  that  I  am  still  alive  to  lift  up 
my  voice  against  the  dismemberment  of  this 
ancient  and  most  noble  monarchy."  He  then 
proceeded,  in  the  most  energetic  terms,  to 
urge  his  auditors  to  the  most  vigorous  efforts 
against  their  new  enemy,  the  House  of  Bour 
bon  ;  and  concluded  by  calling  upon  them,  if 
they  must  fall,  to  fall  like  men. 


178  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

The  Duke  of  Richmond  having  replied  to 
this  speech,  Lord  Chatham  attempted  to  rise 
for  the  purpose  of  rebutting  his  grace's  argu 
ments,  and  of  proposing  his  own  plan  for  put 
ting  an  end  to  the  contest  with  America, 
which  is  understood  to  have  been  the  estab 
lishment  with  the  colonies,  upon  the  most 
liberal  terms,  of  a  kind  of  federal  union  under 
one  common  monarch.  But  the  powers  of 
nature  within  him  were  exhausted ;  he  fainted 
under  the  effort  which  he  made  to  give  utter 
ance  to  his  sentiments,  and  being  conveyed 
to  his  favorite  seat  of  Haynes,  in  Kent,  he 
expired  on  the  1 1th  of  May. 

This  firmness  on  the  part  of  Congress  au 
gured  ill  for  the  success  of  the  British  com 
missioners,  Lord  Carlisle,  Mr.  Eden,  and 
Governor  Johnstone,  who  arrived  at  New 
York  on  the  9th  of  June,  and  without  loss  of 
time  attempted  to  open  a  negotiation  with 
the  Congress.  Their  overtures  were  officially 
answered  by  President  Laurens  in  a  letter,  by 
which  he  apprized  them  that  the  American  go 
vernment  were  determined  to  maintain  their 
independence  ;  but  were  willing  to  treat  for 
peace  with  his  Britannic  Majesty  on  condi 
tion  of  his  withdrawing  his  fleets  and  armies 
from  their  country. 

Thus  foiled  in  their  attempt  at  public  ne 
gotiation,  the  commissioners  had  recourse  to 
private  intrigue.  Governor  Johnstone,  from 
his  long  residence  in  America,  was  personally 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  179 

acquainted  with  many  of  the  leading  mem 
bers  of  Congress,  to  some  of  whom  he  ad 
dressed  letters  ;  vaguely  intimating  the  great 
rewards  and  honors  which  awaited  those 
who  would  lend  their  aid  in  putting  an  end 
to  the  present  troubles ;  and  in  one  instance, 
he  privately  offered  to  an  individual,  for  his 
services  on  this  behalf,  the  sum  of  10,OOOZ. 
sterling,  and  any  place  in  the  colonies  in  his 
majesty's  gift. 

These  clandestine  overtures  of  the  governor 
•were  uniformly  rejected  with  contempt,  and 
the  Congress  having  been  apprized  of  them, 
declared  them  direct  attempts  at  corruption  ; 
and  resolved  that  it  was  incompatible  with 
their  honor  to  hold  any  correspondence  or  in 
tercourse  with  him.  This  resolution,  which 
was  adhered  to,  notwithstanding  the  explana 
tions  and  denials  of  Johnstone,  and  the  dis 
avowal  of  his  proceedings  by  his  brother  com 
missioners,  drew  forth  from  these  pacificators 
an  angry  manifesto,  in  which  they  virtually 
threatened  the  Union  with  a  war  of  devasta 
tion,  declaring  that  "if  the  British  colonies 
were  to  become  an  accession  to  France,  the 
laws  of  self-pre0^  ration  would  direct  Great 
Britain  to  *"~-  ^r  the  accession  of  as  little 
avail  as  possible  to  the  enemy." 

While  Congress  gave  notice  that  the  bear 
ers  of  the  copies  of  this  manifesto  were  not 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  a  flag,  they 
showed  how  little  they  dreaded  the  impres- 


180  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

sion  which  it  might  make,  by  giving  it  an  ex- 
tensive  circulation  in  their  newspapers. 


SECTION  XXVII. 

ARRIVAL    OF    THE   FRENCH    FLEET. 

General  Howe  spent  the  spring  of  the  year 
1778  nearly  in  a  state  of  inaction,  confining 
his  operaticms  to  the  sending  out  of  foraging 
and  predatory  parties,  which  did  some  mis 
chief  to  the  country,  but  little  service  to  the 
royal  cause.  From  this  lethargy  he  was 
roused  by  the  receipt  of  orders  from  the  Brit 
ish  ministry,  to  evacuate  Philadelphia  with 
out  delay.  .  These  orders  were  sent  under  the 
apprehension,  that  if  a  French  fleet  should 
block  up  his  squadron  in  the  Delaware,  while 
Washington  enclosed  him  on  the  land  side, 
he  would  share  the  fate  of  Burgoyne.  On 
the  18th  of  June,  therefore,  he  quitted  the 
Pennsylvanian  capital,  and  crossed  into  New 
Jersey,  whither  he  was  speedily  followed  by 
Washington,  who,  keeping  a  strict  watch  on 
his  movements,  had  taken  measures  to  harass 
him  on  his  march,  which  was  encumbered 
with  baggage. 

The  American  commander,  on  his  arrival 
at  Princeton,  hearing  that  General  Clinton, 
with  a  large  division  of  the  British  forces^ 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  181 

had  quitted  the  direct  road  to  Staten  Island, 
the  place  of  rendezvous  appointed  for  Gene 
ral  Howe's  army,  and  was  marching  for 
Sandy  Hook,  sent  a  detachment  in  pursuit  of 
him,  and  followed  with  his  whole  army  to 
support  it ;  and  as  Clinton  made  preparations 
to  meet  the  meditated  attack,  he  sent  forward 
reinforcements  to  keep  the  British  in  check. 

These  reinforcements  were  commanded  by 
General  Lee,  whom  Washington,  on  his  ad 
vancing  in  person,  met  in  full  retreat.  After 
a  short  and  angry  parley,  Lee  again  advan 
ced,  and  was  driven  back  ;  but  Clinton's  forces 
next  encountering  the  main  body  of  the 
American  army,  were  repulsed  in  their  turn, 
and  taking  advantage  of  the  night,  the  ap 
proach  of  which,  in  all  probability,  saved 
them  from  utter  discomfiture,  they  withdrew 
to  Sandy  Hook,  leaving  behind  them  such  of 
their  wounded  as  could  not  with  safety  be  re 
moved. 

For  his  conduct  on  this  occasion,  Lee  was 
brought  to  a  court-martial,  and  sentenced  to 
be  suspended  from  any  command  in  the  ar 
mies  of  the  United  States  for  the  term  of  one 
year.  After  this  engagement  Washington 
marched  to  White  Plains,  which  are  situated 
a  few  miles  to  the  northeastward  of  New 
York  Island.  Here  he  continued  unmolested 
by  the  neighboring  enemy,  from  the  begin 
ning  of  July  till  the  latter  end  of  autumn, 
when  he  retired  to  take  up  his  winter-quar- 
16 


182  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

ters  in  huts  which  he  had  caused  to  be  con 
structed  at  Middlebrook,  hi  Jersey. 

According  to  the  prognostic  of  the  British 
ministry,  the  Count  d'Estaing,  with  a  fleet  of 
twelve  ships  of  the  line  and  three  frigates, 
arrived  off  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  in  the 
month  of  July  ;  but  found,  to  his  mortifica 
tion,  that  eleven  days  before  that  period  Lord 
Howe  had  withdrawn  from  that  river  to  the 
harbor  of  New  York.  D'Estaing  immediately 
sailed  for  Sandy  Hook ;  but  after  continuing 
at  anchor  there  eleven  days,  during  which 
time  he  captured  about  twenty  English  mer 
chantmen,  finding  that  he  could  not  work  his 
line-of-battle  ships  over  the  bar,  by  the  advice 
of  General  Washington  he  sailed  for  New 
port,  with  a  view  of  co-operating  with  the 
Americans  in  driving  the  British  from  Rhode 
Island,  of  which  province  they  had  been  in 
possession  for  upwards  of  a  year  and  a  half. 

This  project,  however,  completely  failed. 
Lord  Howe  appearing  with  his  fleet  off  New 
port,  the  French  admiral  came  out  of  the 
harbor  to  give  him  battle  ;  but,  before  the 
hostile  armaments  could  encounter,  a  violent 
storm  arose,  which  damaged  both  fleets  so 
much,  that  the  British  were  compelled  to  re 
turn  to  New  York,  while  D'Estaing  withdrew 
to  refit  in  Boston  harbor.  His  retirement 
subjected  the  American  army,  which  had  en 
tered  Rhode  Island,  under  General  Sullivan, 
to  great  peril ;  but  by  the  skill  of  its  com-* 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION".  183 

mander,  it  was  withdrawn  from  the  province 
with  little  loss.  Towards  the  latter  end  of 
this  year  the  British  arms  were  signally  suc 
cessful  in  Georgia,  the  capital  of  which  province 
was  taken  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell, 
who  conducted  himself  with  such  prudence, 
and  manifested  so  conciliatory  a  spirit,  that 
he  made  no  small  advances  in  reconciling  the 
people  of  Georgia  to  their  ancient  govern 
ment. 

The  arrival  of  the  French  fleet  had  filled 
the  Americans  with  sanguine  expectations 
that  they  should  now  be  able  to  put  an  end 
to  the  war  by  some  decisive  stroke  ;  and  in 
proportion  to  the  elevation  of  their  hopes 
was  the  bitterness  of  their  mortification,  that 
the  only  result  of  the  co-operation  of  their 
ally  was  the  recovery  of  Philadelphia.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  British  ministry  were  grievous 
ly  disappointed  on  learning  that  the  issue  of  this 
campaign,  as  far  as  regarded  their  main  army, 
was  the  exchange  by  General  Howe  of  his 
narrow  quarters  in  the  Pennsylvahian  capital 
for  the  not  much  more  extended  ones  of  New 
York  Island.  Hitherto  they  seem  to  have 
carried  on  the  war  under  the  idea  that  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies 
were  favorably  disposed  towards  the  royal 
government,  and  were  only  restrained  from 
manifesting  their  loyalty  by  a  faction  whom 
it  would  be  easy  with  their  assistance  to  sub 
due,  but  from  this  period  they  appear  to  have 


184  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

conducted  their  hostilities  in  a  spirit  of  des 
peration  and  revenge. 

Thus  terminated  the  second  campaign  of 
Great  Britain  against  her  revolted  colonies. 
Two  powerful  armies,  commanded  by  expe 
rienced  generals,  and  abundantly  provided 
with  every  thing,  had  succeeded  in  nothing 
but  capturing  the  cities  of  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  and  ravaging  the  property  of  pri 
vate  individuals  throughout  the  country.  One 
army  had  been  lost  totally,  and  the  other, 
though  master  of  the  capital  of  the  country, 
was  in  effect  straitened  within  very  nar 
row  limits,  and  exercised  no  power  over  the 
people.  The  country  was  not  only  not  sub 
dued,  but  unterrified,  and  more  sanguine  of 
their  ability  to  maintain  their  independence, 
and  warmed  with  sterner  and  more  unani 
mous  determinations  to  yield  nothing  to  the 
invader.  Besides  their  own  higher  hopes  and 
confidence  in  themselves,  supported  by  the 
issue  of  two  years'  battles,  they  were  now 
strengthened  with  foreign  aid. 


SECTION  XXVIII. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1779. 

With  a  view  of  alarming  the  insurgent 
colonies  by  subjecting  them  to  the  unmitiga 
ted  horrors  of  war,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  on  the 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  185 

JOth  of  May,  1779,  sent  an  expedition  into 
Virginia,  under  the  command  of  Sir  George 
Collier  arid  General  Matthews,  who,  landing 
at  Portsmouth,  proceeded  to  Suffolk,  which 
town  they  reduced  to  ashes,  and  after  burning 
and  capturing  upwards  of  130  vessels  of  dif 
ferent  sizes,  and  devastating  the  country  in 
their  line  of  march,  sailed  back  loaded  with 
booty  to  New  York. 

About  five  weeks  after  their  return,  Gover 
nor  Tryon,  having  received  orders  to  attack 
the  coast  of  Connecticut,  landed  at  East 
Haven,  which  he  devoted  to  the  flames,  in 
violation  of  his  promise  of  protection  to  all 
the  inhabitants  who  should  remain  in  their 
homes.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Fairfield 
and  Norwalk,  which  were  given  up  to  plun 
der,  and  then  destroyed.  He  effected  this 
mischief  with  little  loss  in  the  space  of  ten 
days,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  returned  to 
the  British  head-quarters  to  make  a  report  of 
his  proceedings  to  the  commander-in-chief. 

Besides  the  vessels  destroyed,  there  were 
burned  at  Norwalk  two  places  of  public 
worship,  eighty  dwelling-houses,  sixty-seven 
barns,  twenty-two  stores,  seventeen  shops, 
and  four  mills  ;  and  at  Fairfield,  two  houses 
of  public  worship,  eighty-two  dwelling-houses, 
fifty-five  barns,  and  thirty  stores.  So  far  was 
Governor  Tryon  from  feeling  compunction  at 
these  barbarities,  that  he  boasted  of  his  clem 
ency,  and  maintained  that  the  existence  of  a 
16* 


186  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

single  house  on  the  coast  was  a  monument 
of  the  king's  mercy. 

While  this  mode  of  warfare  was  carrying 
on,  Washington  could  spare  very  few  men  for 
the  defence  of  the  invaded  districts.  His  at 
tention  was  engrossed  by  the  main  army  of 
the  British,  to  keep  which  in  check  he  posted 
his  forces  at  West  Point,  and  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Hudson,  pushing  his  patrols  to 
the  vicinity  of  his  adversary's  lines.  As  the 
British  occupied  with  a  strong  garrison  Stony 
Point,  some  miles  to  the  south  of  his  position, 
he,  on  the  15th  of  July,  despatched  General 
Wayne  with  a  competent  force  to  dislodge 
them  from  that  important  post. 

This  attempt  was  crowned  with  success. 
Wayne  took  the  British  works  by  storm,  and 
brought  off  543  prisoners,  fifteen  pieces  of 
cannon,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  mili 
tary  stores.  Washington  did  not,  however, 
think  it  prudent  for  the  present  to  attempt  to 
establish  himself  at  Stony  Point,  and  it  was 
speedily  re-occupied  by  the  British. 

Another  instance  of  the  enterprising  bold 
ness  of  the  Americans,  soon  after  occurred  in. 
the  surprise  of  the  British  garrison  at  Powles- 
Hook,  opposite  to  New  York,  which  was  at 
tacked  on  the  19th  of  July,  by  Major  Lee- 
who  stormed  the  works  and  took  160  prison 
ers,  whom  he  brought  safely  to  the  American 
lines.  The  joy  which  the  Americans  felt  at 
the  success  of  these  daring  enterprises  was, 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  187 

however,  damped  by  the  failure  of  an  expe 
dition  undertaken  by  the  state  of  Massachu 
setts  to  dispossess  the  British  of  a  fort  which 
they  had  erected  at  Penobscot  in  the  district 
of  Maine.  They  here  lost  the  whole  of  their 
flotilla,  which  was  destroyed  or  captured  by 
Sir  George  Collier,  while  their  land  forces 
were  compelled  to  seek  for  safety  by  retreat 
ing  through  the  woods. 

Spain  having  now  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain,  it  was  hoped  by  sanguine  poli 
ticians,  favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  new 
republic,  that  this  additional  pressure  of  for 
eign  foes  wrould  compel  the  British  ministry 
to  withdraw  their  forces  from  North  America. 
But  the  energies  of  the  mother  country  were 
roused  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  her 
peril.  Her  fleets  maintained  their  wonted 
sovereignty  over  the  ocean,  and  her  monarch 
was  determined  to  strain  every  nerve  to  re 
duce  his  revolted  colonies  to  obedience  ;  and 
at  this  period  the  ease  with  which  the  reduc 
tion  of  Georgia  had  been  effected,  and  the 
advantages  which  it  might  afford  in  making 
an  attack  upon  the  rest  of  the  southern  states, 
induced  his  ministers  to  renew  their  efforts  in 
that  quarter. 

The  back  settlements,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Carolinas,  abounded  with  enterprising 
men  of  desperate  fortunes,  as  also  with  tories, 
who  had  been  compelled,  by  the  persecution 
which  they  sustained  from  the  more  ardent 


188  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

republicans,  to  withdraw  into  these  wilds 
from  the  more  settled  part  of  the  country. 
These  adventurers  and  loyalists  having  joined 
the  royal  forces  under  the  command  of  Major- 
general  Preseot,  which  had  also  received  re 
inforcements  from  Florida,  that  officer  found 
himself  in  a  condition  to  commence  active 
operations.  His  preparations  filled  the  neigh 
boring  states  with  alarm. 

The  American  regular  troops  had,  with  few 
exceptions,  been  sent  from  the  Carolinas  to 
reinforce  the  army  of  General  Washington ; 
and  the  only  reliance  of  the  republicans  in 
this  portion  of  the  Union  rested  on  the  militia, 
the  command  of  which  was  delegated  by 
Congress  to  General  Lincoln.  On  inspecting 
his  forces,  Lincoln  found  them  ill  equipped 
-and  very  deficient  in  discipline.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  activity  of  the  enemy  did 
not  allow  him  any  time  to  improve  their  dis 
cipline. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  head-quarters,  a 
division  of  the  royal  army  advanced,  under 
the  command  of  Major  Gardiner,  to  take  pos 
session  of  Port  Royal,  in  South  Carolina,  but 
was  driven  back  with  loss  by  General  Moul- 
trie.  This  repulse  for  a  while  suspended  the 
enterprise  of  the  British,  who  took  post  at 
Augusta  and  Ebenezer,  situated  on  the  Sa 
vannah  river,  which  forms  the  boundary  be 
tween  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  Here 
they  waited  in  expectation  of  being  joined 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  189 

by  a  body  of  tories,  who  had  been  collected 
in  the  upper  parts  of  the  latter  province. 

But  these  obnoxious  allies,  giving  way  to 
long- smothered  resentment,  were  guilty  of 
such  atrocities  on  their  inarch,  that  the  coun 
try  rose  upon  them,  and  they  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  a  detachment  commanded  by  Colonel 
Pickens,  sent  to  intercept  them  at  Kettle 
Creek.  Five  of  the  prisoners  taken  on  this 
occasion,  were  tried  and  executed  for  bearing 
arms  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  This  proceeding  led  to  acts  of  retali 
ation  on  the  part  of  the  tories  and  the  king's 
troops,  which  for  a  long  time  gave  in  the 
southern  states  additional  horror  to  the  mise 
ries  of  war. 

Imboldened  by  his  success,  Lincoln  sent  an 
expedition  into  Georgia,  with  a  view  of  re 
pressing  the  incursions  of  the  enemy,  but  his 
forces  were  surprised  by  General  Prevost, 
from  whom  they  sustained  so  signal  a  defeat, 
that,  of  1,500  men,  of  which  the  expedition 
consisted,  only  450  returned  to  his  camp.  In 
this  emergency,  the  legislative  body  of  South 
Carolina  invested  their  governor,  John  Rut- 
ledge,  and  his  council,  with  an  almost  abso 
lute  authority,  by  virtue  of  which,  a  consider 
able  force  of  militia  was  embodied  and  sta 
tioned  in  the  centre  of  the  state,  to  act  as 
necessity  might  require. 

Putting  himself  at  the  head  of  these  new 
levies,  Lincoln  again  determined  to  carry  the 


190  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

war  into  the  enemy's  quarters  ;  and,  crossing 
the  Savannah,  near  Augusta,  marched  into 
Georgia,  and  proceeded  towards  the  capital 
of  that  province.  Prevost  instantly  took  ad 
vantage  of  this  movement  to  invade  South 
Carolina,  at  the  head  of  2,400  men ;  and, 
driving  Moultrie  before  him,  pushed  forward 
towards  Charleston.  At  this  time,  his  supe 
riority  appeared  to  be  so  decisive,  that 
Moultrie's  troops  began  to  desert  in  great 
numbers,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants,  with 
real  or  affected  zeal,  embraced  the  royal 
cause. 

On  his  appearance  before  Charleston,  the 
garrison  of  that  place,  which  consisted  of 
3,300  men,  sent  commissioners  to  propose  a 
neutrality  on  their  part  during  the  remainder 
of  the  war.  This  proposal  he  rejected,  and 
made  preparations  to  attack  the  town,  which 
was  respectably  fortified.  But,  while  he  was 
wasting  time  in  negotiations,  Lincoln  was 
hastening  from  Georgia  to  the  relief  of  the 
place ;  and  on  the  near  approach  of  the 
American  army,  fearing  to  be  exposed  to  two 
fires,  he  withdrew  his  forces  across  Ashley 
river,  and  encamped  on  some  small  islands 
bordering  on  the  sea-coast. 

Here  he  was  attacked  by  Lincoln,  who 
was,  however,  repulsed  with  loss,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  failure  of  a  part  of  his  combi 
nations.  Notwithstanding  this  success,  the 
British  general  did  not  think  it  advisable  to 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  191 

maintain  his  present  position,  but  retreated 
to  Port  Royal,  and  thence  to  Savannah. 

The  Americans  retired  to  Sheldon,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Beaufort,  which  is  situated  at 
about  an  equal  distance  from  Charleston  and 
Savannah.  Here  they  remained  in  a  state 
of  tranquillity  till  the  beginning  of  September, 
when  they  were  roused  from  their  inaction 
by  the  appearance  off  the  coast  of  the  fleet 
of  D'Estaing,  who  had  proceeded  towards 
the  close  of  the  preceding  year  from  Boston 
to  the  West  Indies,  whence,  after  capturing 
St.  Vincent's  and  Granada,  he  had  returned 
to  the  assistance  of  the  allies  of  his  sovereign. 

At  the  sight  of  this  armament,  which  con 
sisted  of  20  sail  of  the  line,  and  13  frigates, 
the  republicans  exulted  in  the  sanguine  hope 
of  capturing  their  enemies,  or  of  expelling 
them  from  their  country.  The  militia  mus 
tered  with  alacrity  in  considerable  force,  and 
marched  under  the  command  of  General  Lin 
coln  to  the  vicinity  of  Savannah.  Before 
their  arrival,  D'Estaing  had  summoned  the 
town,  and  had  granted  to  General  Prevost  a 
suspension  of  hostilities  for  24  hours,  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  the  terms  of  a  capitula 
tion.  But  during  that  interval,  the  British 
commander  received  a  reinforcement  of  sev 
eral  hundred  men,  who  had  forced  their  way 
from  Beaufort ;  encouraged  by  which  seasona 
ble  aid,  he  determined  to  hold  out  to  the  last 
extremity. 


192  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

The  allied  forces,  therefore,  commenced  the 
siege  of  the  place  in  form ;  but  D'Estaing, 
finding  that  much  time  would  be  consumed 
in  regular  approaches,  and  dreading  the  hur 
ricanes  which  prevail  on  the  southern  coast 
of  America  at  that  season,  resolved  on  an  as 
sault.  In  conjunction  with  Lincoln,  he  led 
his  troops  to  the  attack  with  great  gallantry ; 
but,  after  having  received  two  slight  wounds, 
he  was  driven  back  with  the  loss  of  637  of 
his  countrymen,  and  200  of  the  Americans, 
killed  and  wounded. 

At  the  close  of  the  engagement,  D'Estaing 
retired  to  his  ships,  and  departed  from  the 
coast,  while  Lincoln  crossed  the  Savannah 
river,  and  returned  with  his  forces,  daily  di 
minishing  by  desertion,  to  South  Carolina. 
In  proportion  to  the  joy  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  southern  states  at  the  arrival  of  the 
French  fleet,  was  their  mortification  at  the 
failure  of  their  joint  endeavors  to  rid  their 
provinces  of  an  active  enemy.  The  brave 
were  dispirited  by  defeat,  and  the  sanguine 
began  to  despair  of  the  fortunes  of  their 
country.  Those,  however,  who  thought  more 
deeply,  took  comfort  from  the  consideration 
that  the  enemy  had  effected  little  in  the 
course  of  the  campaign,  except  the  overrun 
ning  and  plundering  of  an  extensive  tract  of 
territory,  and  that  they  had  been  compelled 
to  terminate  their  excursions  by  again  con 
centrating  themselves  in  Savannah. 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  193 


SECTION  XXIX. 

SIEGE  AND  CAPITULATION  OP  CHARLESTON,   12TH  OP 
MAY,  1780. 

The  events  which  had  occurred  in  South 
Carolina,  having  persuaded  Sir  Henry  Clin 
ton  that  the  cause  of  independence  was  less 
firmly  supported  there  than  in  the  northern 
states,  he  determined  to  make  that  province 
the  principal  theatre  of  the  war  during  the 
ensuing  campaign.  Leaving,  therefore,  the 
command  of  the  royal  army  in  New  York  to 
General  Knyphausen,  on  the  26th  of  Decem 
ber,  1779,  he  sailed  from  that  city  with  a  con 
siderable  force,  and,  after  a  stormy  passage, 
on  the  llth  of  the  ensuing  month,  he  arrived 
at  Tybee,  in  Georgia,  at  the  mouth  of  Savan 
nah  river.  Hence  he  proceeded  to  Ashley  riv 
er,  and  encamped  opposite  to  Charleston. 

On  his  arrival,  the  assembly  of  the  state  of 
South  Carolina  broke  up  its  sitting,  after  hav 
ing  once  more  delegated  a  dictatorial  author 
ity  to  Governor  Rutledge,  who  immediately 
issued  orders  for  the  assembling  of  the  mili 
tia.  These  commands  were  ill  obeyed.  The 
disasters  of  the  last  campaign  had  almost  ex 
tinguished  the  flame  of  patriotism  ;  and  each 
man  seemed  to  look  to  his  neighbors  for  those 
exertions  which  might  have  justly  been  ex 
pected  from  himself. 

17 


194  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

He  next  issued  his  proclamation,  requiring 
every  enrolled  inhabitant  of  the  town  to  re 
pair  to  the  garrison  to  do  military  duty,  un 
der  a  penalty  of  having  his  property  confis 
cated.  This  had  no  better  effect  than  solici 
tation.  With  all  the  exertions  of  Lincoln  and 
Rutledge,  the  whole  strength  of  the  town, 
when  Clinton  crossed  the  Ashley,  was  less 
than  three  thousand,  of  whom,  a  thousand 
were  North  Carolina  militia,  and  the  rest  con 
tinental  regulars.  Lincoln  was  indefatigable 
in  fortifying  the  works.  The  lines  were  ex 
tended,  and  every  possible  preparation  was 
made  for  a  vigorous  and  determined,  though 
a  hopeless,  resistance. 

On  reconnoitring  the  works  of'  Charleston, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  did  not  think  it  expedient 
to  attack  them  till  he  had  received  reinforce 
ments  from  New  York  and  Savannah,  on  the 
arrival  of  which  he  opened  the  siege  in  form. 
Charleston  is  situated  on  a  tongue  of  land, 
bounded  on  the  west  by  Ashley,  and  on  the 
east  by  Cooper's  rivers.  The  approach  to 
Ashley  river  was  defended  by  Fort  Moultrie, 
erected  on  Sullivan's  island ;  and  the  passage 
up  Cooper's  river  was  impeded  by  a  number 
of  vessels,  connected  by  cables  and  chains, 
and  sunk  in  the  channel  opposite  the  town. 
On  the  land  side,  the  place  was  defended  by 
a  citadel  and  strong  lines,  extending  from  one 
of  the  above-mentioned  rivers  to  the  other. 

Before  these  lines,  Clinton  broke  ground  on 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  195 

the  29th  of  March,  and  on  the  10th  of  April, 
he  had  completed  his  first  parallel.  On  the 
preceding  day,  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  who  com 
manded  the  British  fleet,  had  passed  Fort 
Moultrie  with  little  loss,  and  had  anchored 
near  the  town.  About  the  20th  of  April,  the 
British  commander  received  a  second  rein 
forcement  of  3,000  men ;  and  the  place  was 
soon  completely  invested  by  land  and  sea — 
his  third  parallel  being  advanced  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  American  works. 

Gen.  Lincoln,  who  commanded  in  Charles 
ton,  would  not  have  shut  himself  up  in  the 
town,  had  he  not  confidently  expected  relief 
from  the  militia,  who  had  been  called  out  by 
Governor  Rutledge,  and  by  whose  assistance 
he  imagined  that  he  could,  if  reduced  to  ex 
tremity,  have  effected  a  retreat,  by  crossing 
Cooper's  river.  But  the  few,  who,  in  this 
hour  of  difficulty,  advanced  to  his  aid,  were 
cut  off  or  kept  in  check ;  and  the  river  was 
possessed  by  the  enemy. 

In  these  distressful  circumstances,  after  sus 
taining  a  bombardment  which  set  the  town 
on  fire  in  different  places,  on  the  12th  of  May, 
he  surrendered  on  a  capitulation,  the  princi 
pal  terms  of  which  were,  that  "  the  militia 
were  to  be  permitted  to  return  to  their  re 
spective  homes,  as  prisoners  on  parole,  and 
while  they  adhered  to  their  parole,  were  not 
to  be  molested  in  person  or  property."  The 
same  conditions  were  also  imposed  on  all  the 


396  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

inhabitants  of  the  town,  civil  as  well  as  mil 
itary. 

The  American  loss  during  the  siege  was 
102  killed  and  157  wounded ;  that  of  the  loy 
alists,  70  killed  and  189  wounded.  The  num 
ber  of  prisoners,  including  adult  citizens  and 
militia,  was  about  5,000,  but  the  regular  force 
did  not  exceed  2,500.  The  proportion  of  offi 
cers  was  unusually  large — men  who  came  to 
the  defence  of  the  city  without  being  able  to 
bring  the  troops  -with  them.  There  were  in 
cluded  in  the  capitulation,  one  major-general, 
six  brigadier-generals,  twenty- three  colonels 
and  lieutenant-colonels,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  captains  and  lieutenants,  besides 
ensigns.  No  less  than  four  hundred  pieces 
of  artillery,  of  which  three  hundred  and  elev 
en  were  in  the  city,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
British. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  now  addressed  himself  to 
the  important  work  of  re-establishing  the  royal 
authority  in  the  province ;  as  a  preliminary  step 
to  which,  on  the  1st  of  June,  he  issued  a  pro 
clamation,  offering  to  the  inhabitants  at  large, 
on  condition  of  their  submission,  pardon  for 
their  past  offences,  a  reinstatement  in  their 
rights,  and,  what  was  of  the  most  weighty 
importance,  exemption  from  taxation,  except 
from  their  own  legislature. 

This  proclamation  was  followed  up  by  the 
posting  of  garrisons  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  to  protect  the  loyal  and  to  awe  the 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  197 

disaffected,  and  by  the  march  of  2,000  men 
towards  North  Carolina,  on  whose  advance 
the  American  forces,  who  had  tardily  march 
ed  from  that  province  to  the  relief  of  Charles 
ton,  retreated  with  loss. 

Col.  Tarlton  wras  detached  by  Cornwallis, 
with  a  strong  corps  of  cavalry  and  mounted 
infantry  in  pursuit.  By  pushing  on  with  un 
exampled  celerity,  Tarlton  overtook  the  Amer 
icans  at  Waxsaw,  and  after  a  short  encounter, 
routed  the  party,  and  captured  the  artillery, 
baggage,  colors,  indeed  every  thing.  The 
carnage  was  terrible.  The  Americans,  infe 
rior  in  number,  made  but  feeble  resistance 
and  cried  for  quarter.  This  was  refused,  and 
the  infuriated  enemy  continued  to  cut  down 
and  massacre  without  mercy,  until  tired  with 
slaughter.  One  hundred  and  eight  were  kill 
ed,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  wounded,  and 
fifty-three  prisoners ;  the  loss  of  the  victors 
was  only  seven  killed  and  twelve  wounded. 
"  Tarlton's  quarter"  became  afterwards  a  by 
word,  to  express  deliberate  cruelty. 

Thus  crowned  with  success,  Clinton,  early 
in  June,  embarked,  with  the  principal  part  of 
his  forces,  for  New  York,  having  delegated 
the  completion  of  the  subjugation  of  South 
Carolina  to  Lord  Cornwallis,  to  whom  he  ap 
portioned,  for  that  purpose,  an  army  of  4,000 
men. 


198  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 


SECTION  XXX. 

DEFEAT  OF  GATEs's  ARMY,  BY  LORD  CORNWALLIS, 
15TH  OF  AUGUST,  1780. 

When  Lord  Cornwallis  took  the  command 
in  South  Carolina,  the  insurgents  had  no  ar 
my  in  the  field  within  400  miles  of  that  prov 
ince,  and  the  great  body  of  the  inhabitants 
had  submitted  either  as  prisoners  or  as  sub 
jects  ;  and  had  they  been  suffered  to  remain 
in  this  state  of  quiet  neutrality,  they  would 
have  been  happy  to  abide  in  peace  the  issue 
of  the  contest  in  the  northern  states.  But 
his  lordship's  instructions  did  not  permit  him 
to  be  contented  with  this  passive  obedience, 
and  he  proceeded  to  take  measures  to  compel 
the  South  Carolinians  to  take  up  arms  against 
their  countrymen. 

With  this  view,  he  issued  a  proclamation, 
absolving  from  their  parole  all  the  inhabit 
ants  who  had  bound  themselves  by  that  ob 
ligation,  and  restoring  them  "to  all  the  rights 
and  duties  belonging  to  citizens."  What  was 
meant  by  the  ominous  word  "  duties"  was  ex 
plained  by  another  part  of  the  proclamation, 
whereby  it  was  declared,  "  that  it  was  proper 
for  all  persons  to  take  an  active  part  in  set 
tling  and  securing  his  majesty's  government," 
and  that  "  whoever  should  neglect  so  to  do 
should  be  treated  as  rebels." 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  199 

The  Carolinians  were  indignant  at  this  vio 
lation  of  the  terms  of  their  submission.  Ma 
ny  of  them  resumed  their  arms  ;  and  though 
more,  under  the  impression  of  fear,  enrolled 
themselves  as  subjects,  they  brought  to  the 
royal  cause  a  hollow  allegiance,  which  could 
not  be  trusted  in  the  day  of  trial.  A  consid 
erable  number  quitted  the  province,  and  has 
tened  to  join  the  army  which  Congress  was 
raising  for  the  purpose  of  wresting  it  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

In  organizing  this  force,  Congress  had  to 
struggle  with  the  greatest  difficulties.  Their 
treasury  was  exhausted,  and  they  were  at 
this  time  occupied  in  making  an  equitable 
adjustment  as  to  their  paper  money,  on  the 
strength  of  which  they  had  undertaken  the 
war,  and  which  was  now  depreciated  to  the 
amount  of  forty  for  one — that  is,  one  silver 
dollar  was  worth  forty  American  paper  dol 
lars.  While  their  currency  was  in  this  state 
they  were  perpetually  embarrassed  in  their 
purchases  of  arms,  clothing,  and  stores ;  and 
when  they  had  raised  the  men  for  the  south 
ern  army,  some  time  elapsed  before  they  could 
procure  the  necessary  funds  to  put  them  in 
motion. 

These  difficulties  being  at  length  overcome, 
the  Maryland  and  Delaware  troops  were  sent 
forward,  and  began  their  march  in  high  spir 
its  on  learning  that  the  expedition  of  which 
they  formed  a  part,  was  to  be  commanded  by 


200  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

General  Gates.  The  hero  of  Saratoga,  on 
joining  the  army  in  North  Carolina,  was  ad 
vised  to  proceed  to  the  southward  by  a  cir 
cuitous  route,  where  he  would  find  plenty  of 
provisions ;  but,  conceiving  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  hasten  with  all  speed  to  the  scene  of  ac 
tion,  he  preferred  the  straightforward  road  to 
Camden,  which  led  through  a  desert  pine 
barren. 

In  traversing  this  dreary  tract  of  country, 
his  forces  were  worn  out  with  fatigue  and 
extenuated  with  hunger.  The  few  cattle 
which  his  commissariat  had  provided  having 
been  consumed,  his  only  resource  for  meat 
was  the  lean  beasts  which  were  accidentally 
picked  up  in  the  woods.  Meal  and  grain 
were  also  very  scarce  ;  and  as  substitutes  for 
bread,  the  soldiers  were  obliged  to  have  re 
course  to  the  green  corn  and  to  the  fruits 
which  they  met  with  on  their  line  of  march. 
The  consequence  of  this  unwonted  diet  was, 
that  the  army  was  thinned  by  dysentery  and 
other  diseases  usually  caused  by  the  heat  of 
the  weather  and  by  unwholesome  food. 

The  soldiers  at  first  bore  these  hardships 
with  impatience,  and  symptoms  of  dissatis 
faction  and  even  of  mutiny  began  to  appear 
among  them.  But  by  the  conciliatory  exer 
tions  of  the  officers,  who  shared  in  all  the 
privations  of  the  common  men,  the  spirit  of 
murmuring  was  repressed,  and  the  troops 
pursued  their  weary  way  with  patience  and 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  201 

even  with  cheerfulness.  On  their  arrival  at 
a  place  called  Deep  creek,  their  distresses 
were  alleviated  by  a  supply  of  good  beef,  ac 
companied  by  the  distribution  of  half  a  pound 
of  Indian  corn  meal  to  each  man. 

Invigorated  by  this  welcome  refreshment, 
they  proceeded  to  the  cross-roads,  where  they 
were  joined  by  a  respectable  body  of  militia 
under  the  command  of  General  Caswell. 
Though  Gates  was  aware  that  another  body 
of  militia  were  hastening  to  his  assistance  from 
the  state  of  Virginia,  he  was  prevented  from 
waiting  for  their  arrival  by  want  of  provi 
sions,  and,  after  staying  for  one  day  only  at 
the  cross-roads,  finding  that  the  enemy  in 
tended  to  dispute  his  passage  by  Lynch's 
creek,  he  marched  to  the  right  towards  Cler 
mont,  where  the  British  had  established  a  de 
fensible  post. 

On  his  approach  to  the  latter  place,  how* 
ever,  Lord  Rawdon,  who  commanded  the  ad 
vance  of  the  British,  concentrated  all  his 
forces  at  Camden,  while  Gates  mustered  the 
whole  of  his  army  at  Clermont,  which  is  dis 
tant  from  Camden  about  thirteen  miles. 
These  events  occurred  on  the  13th  of  August, 
and  on  the  next  day  the  American  troops 
were  reinforced  by  a  body  of  700  of  the  Vir 
ginia  militia.  At  the  same  time  Gates  re 
ceived  an  express  from  Colonel  Sumpter,  who 
reported  to  him  that  he  had  been  joined  by  a 
number  of  the  South  Carolina  militia,  at  his 


'202  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

encampment  on  the  west  side  of  the  Wateree, 
and  that  an  escort  of  clothing,  ammunition, 
and  other  stores,  was  on  its  way  from  Charles 
ton  to  Camden,  and  must,  of  necessity,  on  its 
way  to  its  destination,  cross  the  Wateree  at  a 
ferry  about  a  mile  from  that  place. 

On  receiving  this  intelligence,  Gates  sent 
forward  a  detachment  of  the  Maryland  line, 
consisting  of  100  regular  infantry  and  a  com 
pany  of  artillery,  with  two  brass  field-pieces, 
and  300  North  Carolina  militia,  all  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Woodford, 
who  was  instructed  to  join  General  Sumpter, 
and  assist  him  in  intercepting  the  convoy.  At 
the  same  time  General  Gates  made  prepara 
tions  for  advancing  still  nearer  Camden,  in 
the  expectation  that  if  Lord  Rawdon  did  not 
abandon  that  post  as  he  had  done  that  of 
Clermont,  his  supplies  would  be  cut  off  by 
the  bodies  of  militia  which  were  expected  to 
pour  forth  from  the  upper  counties,  and  he 
would  thus  be  compelled  to  a  surrender. 

On  reaching  the  frontier  of  South  Carolina, 
Gates  had  issued  a  proclamation,  inviting  the 
inhabitants  to  join  his  standard,  and  offering 
an  amnesty  to  such  of  them  as,  under  the 
pressure  of  circumstances,  had  promised  alle 
giance  to  the  British  government.  Though 
this  proclamation  had  not  been  without  effect, 
it  had  not  called  forth  the  numbers  upon 
which  the  American  general  had  been  led  to 
calculate  ;  and,  after  the  departure  of  Lieu- 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

tenant-colonel  Woodford's  detachment,  the  ab 
stract  of  the  field-returns  submitted  to  him 
by  his  deputy  adjutant-general  indicated  no 
more -than  between  4,000  or  5,000  men  as 
constituting  his  disposable  force. 

Gates,  disappointed  as  he  was  by  the  scan 
tiness  of  these  returns,  determined  to  perse 
vere  in  his  plan  of  offensive  operations,  and 
marched  about  ten  at  night  on  the  15th  of 
August  to  within  half  a  mile  of  Sander's 
creek,  about  half  way  between  his  encamp 
ment  and  Camden, 

Lord  Cornwallis,  who  the  day  before  had 
repaired  to  his  head-quarters  at  Camden,  and 
had  taken  command  of  the  British  army,  was 
also  resolved,  though  his  forces  amounted 
only  to  2,000  men,  of  whom  1,700  were  in 
fantry  and  300  cavalry,  to  attack  the  enemy 
in  their  camp,  and  advancing  for  that  pur 
pose,  at  half  past  two  in  the  morning,  en 
countered  their  advanced  parties  near  San 
der's  creek.  Here  some  firing  took  place 
with  various  success  ;  bat  on  the  whole  the 
British  had  the  advantage  in  this  night  ren 
contre. 

Early  on  the  ensuing  morning  both  armies 
prepared  for  battle.  On  the  side  of  the 
Americans,  the  second  Maryland  brigade,  un 
der  the  command  of  General  Gist,  occupied 
the  right,  which  was  flanked  by  a  morass ; 
the  Virginia  militia  and  the  North  Carolina 
infantry,  also  covered  by  some  boggy  ground,. 


204  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

were  posted  on  the  left,  while  General  Cas- 
well,  with  the  North  Carolina  division  and 
the  artillery,  appeared  in  the  centre.  A  corps 
de  reserve,  under  the  orders  of  General  Small- 
wood,  was  posted  about  three  hundred  yards 
in  the  rear  of  the  American  line. 

In  arranging  the  British  forces,  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  delegated  the  command  of  the  right  to 
Lieutenant-colonel  Webster,  who  had  at  his 
disposal  the  23d  and  the  33d  regiments  of 
foot.  The  left  was  guarded  by  some  Irish 
volunteers,  the  infantry  of  the  legion,  and 
part  of  Lieutenant- colonel  Hamilton's  North 
Carolina  regiment,  under  the  command  of 
Lord  Rawdon.  The  cavalry  of  the  legion 
was  stationed  in  the  rear,  where  also  the  71st 
regiment  was  stationed  as  a  reserve. 

The  respective  armies  being  thus  disposed, 
the  action  began  by  the  advance  of  200  of 
the  British  in  front  of  the  American  artillery, 
which  received  them  with  a  steady  fire. 
Gates  then  commanded  the  Virginia  militia 
to  advance  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Stevens,  who  cheerfully  obeyed  the  orders  of 
his  commander-in-chief,  and,  when  he  had 
led  his  men  within  firing  distance,  urged  them 
to  charge  the  enemy  with  their  bayonets. 
This  portion  of  the  American  army  did  not, 
however,  emulate  the  gallantry  of  their  lead 
er. 

Lord  Corn  wallis,  observing  their  movement, 
gave  orders  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Webster  to 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  205 

attack  them.  The  British  infantry  obeyed 
his  lordship's  commands  with  a  loud  cheer. 
The  American  militia,  intimidated  by  this  in 
dication  of  determined  daring,  were  panic- 
struck,  and  the  Virginians  and  the  Carolini 
ans  threw  down  their  arms  and  hastened 
from  the  field.  The  right  wing  and  the  corps 
de  reserve,  however,  maintained  their  position, 
and  even  gained  ground  upon  the  enemy; 
but  Lord  Cornwallis,  taking  advantage  of  a 
favorable  moment,  charged  them  with  his 
cavalry,  and  put  them  completely  to  the  rout. 

The  victors  captured  the  whole  of  the  bag 
gage  and  artillery  of  the  Americans,  who 
were  pursued  by  the  British  cavalry  for  the 
space  of  twenty  miles ;  and  so  complete 
was  their  discomfiture,  that  on  the  second 
day  after  the  engagement  Gates  could  only 
muster  150  of  his  fugitive  soldiers  at  Charles 
ton,  a  town  in  the  south  of  North  Carolina, 
from  whence  he  retreated  still  further  north 
to  Salisbury,  and  thence  to  Hillsborough. 
The  sickliness  of  the  season  prevented  Lord 
Cornwallis  from  pursuing  the  broken  remains 
of  the  enemy's  army  ;  but  he  employed  the 
leisure  now  afforded  him  in  inflicting  ven 
geance  on  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  South 
Carolina  as  had  been  induced,  by  the  pres 
ence  of  Gates's  army,  to  declare  in  his  favor. 

The  militiamen  who  had  joined  the  repub 
lican  standard,  and  had  fallen  into  his  hands 
as  prisoners,  he  doomed  to  the  gallows.  The 
18 


206  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

property  of  the  fugitives,  and  of  the  declared 
friends  of  independence,  he  confiscated.  These 
acts,  though  severe,  were  perhaps  justifiable 
by  the  strictness  of  the  law.  But  neither  in 
law  nor  in  honor  could  his  lordship  justify  the 
seizure  of  a  number  of  the  principal  citizens 
of  Charleston,  and  most  of  the  military  offi 
cers  residing  there  under  the  faith  of  the  late 
capitulation,  and  sending  them  to  St.  Augus 
tine. 

Reduced  to  desperation  by  these  injudicious 
severities,  the  bold  and  active  among  the  dis 
affected  formed  themselves  into  independent 
bands,  under  different  chieftains,  among  whom 
Marion  and  Sumpter  were  distinguished  by 
their  spirit  of  enterprise.  These  harassed 
the  scattered  parties  of  the  British,  several 
of  which  they  cut  off;  and  by  their  move 
ments  the  loyalists  to  the  north  of  the  Caro- 
linas  were  kept  in  check.  Eight  of  these 
chieftains  having  united  their  forces,  attacked 
Major  Ferguson,  who  had  been  sent  to  the 
confines  of  the  two  provinces  to  assemble  the 
friends  of  the  British  government,  and  killed 
or  wounded  250  of  his  new  levies,  and  took 
800  prisoners,  Ferguson  himself  being  among 
the  slain.  The  American  loss  was  about 
twenty. 

This  success  was  followed  by  important 
results :  Lord  Cornwallis  had  marched  into 
North  Carolina  in  the  direction  of  Salisbury ; 
but  when  he  heard  of  the  defeat  and  death 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  207 

of  Ferguson,  he  retreated  to  Winnsborough 
in  the  southern  province,  being  severely  har 
assed  in  his  retrograde  movement  by  the  mi 
litia  and  the  inhabitants  ;  and  when  he  re 
tired  into  winter-quarters  Sumpter  still  kept 
the  field. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Gates  had  col 
lected  another  army,  with  which  he  advanced 
to  Charlotte.  Here  he  received  intelligence 
that  Congress  had  resolved  to  supersede  him 
and  to  submit  his  conduct  to  a  court  of  in 
quiry.  Mortified  as  he  was  by  the  ingrati 
tude  of  his  country,  on  the  notification  of  this 
resolve  of  the  supreme  power  he  dutifully 
resigned  his  command.  But  on  his  way  home 
from  Carolina,  his  feelings  were  soothed  by 
an  address  from  the  legislature  of  Virginia, 
assuring  him  that  "  the  remembrance  of  his" 
former  glorious  services  could  not  be  obliter 
ated  by  any  reverse  of  fortune." 

General  Greene  was  now  appointed  to  the 
command  of  the  southern  army.  Gates,  on 
receiving  the  intelligence,  conducted  with 
true  philosophy  and  gallantry.  He  redoubled 
his  efforts  to  improve  the  discipline  and  con 
dition  of  the  army,  and  on  the  arrival  of 
Greene,  in  December,  received  him  with  cor 
diality  and  friendship. 


208  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


SECTION  XXXI. 

ARRIVAL    OF    THE    FRENCH    AUXILIARIES    UNDER    RO- 
CHAMBEAU,   10TH  OF  JULY,   1780. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  the 
southern  states,  General  Washington  was 
obliged  to  confine  himself  to  the  irksome  and 
inglorious  task  of  watching,  from  his  encamp 
ment  at  Morristown,  the  motions  of  the  Brit 
ish  on  New  York  island,  and  of  restraining 
their  incursions  into  the  adjacent  country. 
Though  the  army  opposed  to  him  was  les 
sened  by  the  detachment  which  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  led  into  South  Carolina,  his  own  forces 
were  proportionably  weakened  by  the  rein 
forcements  which  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
send  to  the  American  army  in  the  same  quar 
ter  ;  and  never  did  distress  press  more  heavily 
upon  him. 

The  depreciation  of  the  currency  was  at 
that  time  so  great,  that  four  months'  pay  of  a 
private  would  not  purchase  a  single  bushel 
of  wheat.  His  camp  was  sometimes  desti 
tute  of  meat,  and  sometimes  of  bread.  As 
each  state  provided  for  its  own  quota  of 
troops,  no  uniformity  could  be  established  in 
the  distribution  of  provisions.  This  circum 
stance  aggravated  the  general  discontent, 
and  a  spirit  of  mutiny  began  to  display  itself 
in  two  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  which 


AiMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  209 

were  with  difficulty  restrained  from  forcing 
their  way  home  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

Of  these  discontents  the  enemy  endeavored 
to  take  advantage,  by  circulating  in  the 
American  camp  proclamations  offering  the 
most  tempting  gratifications  to  such  of  the 
continental  troops  as  should  desert  the  repub 
lican  colors  and  embrace  the  royal  cause. 
But  these  offers  were  unavailing ;  mutinous 
as  they  were,  the  malcontents  abhorred  the 
thought  of  joining  the  enemies  of  their  coun 
try  ;  and  on  the  seasonable  arrival  of  a  fresh 
supply  of  provisions,  they  cheerfully  returned 
to  their  duty. 

Soon  after  this,  when  General  Knyphausen, 
who  commanded  the  British  forces  in  the  ab 
sence  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  made  an  irrup 
tion  into  Jersey,  on  the  16th  of  June,  the 
whole  American  army  marched  out  to  oppose 
him ;  and  though  he  was  reinforced  by  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  who  during  this  expedition 
had  arrived  from  Charleston,  he  was  compel 
led  to  measure  back  his  steps.  Both  the  ad 
vance  and  retreat  of  the  German  were  mark 
ed  by  the  devastation  committed  by  his  troops, 
who  burnt  the  town  of  Springfield,  and  most 
of  the  houses  on  their  line  of  march. 

Alarmed  by  the  representations  made  by 
General  Washington  of  the  destitute  condi 
tion  of  his  army,  Congress  sent  three  mem 
bers  of  their  body  with  instructions  to  inquire 
,  into  the  condition  of  their  forces,  and  with 
38* 


210  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION, 

authority  to  reform  abuses.  These  gentle 
men  fully  verified  the  statements  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief.  No  sooner  was  this  fact 
known  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  than  a 
subscription  was  set  on  foot  for  the  relief  of 
the  suffering  soldiers,  which  soon  amounted 
to  300,000  dollar*  Even  the  ladies  of  Phil 
adelphia  associated  themselves  for  the  pur 
pose  of  administering  to  the  necessities  of  the 
army,  and,  after  subscribing  with  generous 
profusion  from  their  own  means,  personally 
solicited  the  aid  of  others  with  much  success. 

The  above  sum  was  intrusted  to  the  dis 
cretion  of  a  well-chosen  committee,  who  ap 
propriated  it  to  the  purchase  of  provisions  for 
the  troops.  The  three  commissioners  also 
applied  themselves  diligently  to  the  task  of 
recruiting  and  re-organizing  the  army.  They 
prescribed  to  each  state  the  quota  of  forces 
which  it  was  to  contribute  towards  the  rais 
ing  of  35,000  men,  their  deficiency  in  regulars 
being  to  be  supplied  by  drafts  from  their  re 
spective  militia. 

The  states  of  New  England,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Virginia,  promptly  listened  to  the  call  of 
their  country,  and  made  extraordinary  efforts 
to  furnish  their  several  quotas  of  recruits. 
The  other  members  of  the  Union  exerted 
themselves  to  the  best  of  their  ability ;  and 
though  the  general  result  of  these  exertions 
did  not  produce  the  number  of  troops  which 
"was  deemed  requisite  for  the  public  service, 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  211 

more  could  not,  in  such  circumstances,  have 
been  well  expected. 

The  Congress  were  the  more  earnest  in 
their  wishes  to  put  their  army  on  a  respecta 
ble  footing,  as  they  were  in  expectation  of 
the  arrival  of  a  body  of  auxiliary  forces  from 
France.  This  welcome  aid  appeared  off 
Rhode  Island  on  the  10th  of  July,  1780,  on 
•which  day,  Monsieur  Ternay  sailed  into  the 
harbor  of  Newport  with  a  squadron  of  seven 
sail  of  the  line,  five  frigates,  and  five  schoon 
ers,  convoying  a  fleet  of  transports,  having  on 
board  6,000  men,  under  the  command  of  the 
Count  de  Rochambeau. 

Admiral  Arbuthnot,  who  had  under  his 
command,  at  New  York,  only  four  sail  of  the 
line,  on  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  the  French 
at  Rhode  Island,  was  apprehensive  of  being 
attacked  by  their  superior  force.  But  he  was 
soon  relieved  from  his  fears  by  the  vigilance 
of  the  British  ministry,  who,  on  the  sailing  of 
the  French  fleet  from  Europe,  had  sent  to  his 
assistance  Admiral  Graves,  with  six  ships  of 
the  line. 

On  receiving  this  reinforcement,  he  sailed 
for  Rhode  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  encoun 
tering  the  French  squadron,  while  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  proceeded  with  8,000  men  to  the 
north  of  Long  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  land 
ing  on  the  opposite  part  of  the  continent,  and 
attacking  their  land  forces.  But  the  British 
Admiral  found  the  enemy's  ships  so  well  se- 


212  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

cured  by  batteries  and  other  land  fortifica 
tions,  that  he  was  obliged  to  content  himself 
with  blocking  them  up  in  their  harbor  ;  and 
Clinton,  receiving  intelligence  that  General 
Washington  was  preparing  to  take  advantage 
of  his  absence  by  making  an  attack  upon 
New  York,  hastened  back  to  the  relief  of 
that  place. 


SECTION  XXXII. 

TREASON  OF  ARNOLD,  AND  DEATH  OF  ANDRE, 

Washington,  on  the  retreat  of  General 
Clinton,  withdrew  to  West  Point,  an  almost 
impregnable  position,  situated  about  fifty 
miles  to  the  northward  of  New  York,  on  the 
Hudson  river,  by  means  of  which  he  kept  up 
a  communication  between  the  eastern  and 
southern  states ;  and  having  occasion,  to 
wards  the  end  of  the  month  of  September, 
to  go  to  Rhode  Island  to  hold  a  conference 
with  the  French  admiral  and  Count  Rocham- 
beau,  he  left  the  command  of  this  important 
post  to  General  Arnold,  unconscious  that  in 
so  doing,  he  intrusted  the  fortunes  of  the  in 
fant  republic  to  a  traitor. 

West  Point  was  the  most  important  post  in 
the  possession  of  the  Americans.  It  had  ao 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  213 

^ordirigly  been  fortified  with  great  care  and 
expense,  and  was  the  repository  of  the  most 
valuable  stores  of  the  army;  and  at  the  time 
of  Arnold's  defection,  it  was  the  resting  point 
upon  which  the  fate  of  the  American  army 
turned.  Had  it  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
British,  no  sagacity  nor  courage  could  have 
saved  the  wrhole  army  in  the  middle  states 
from  being  cut  to  pieces  or  captured  in  de 
tail. 

The  possession  of  the  states  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  the  command  of  the  great 
channels  of  intercourse  between  the  states,  a 
complete  division  of  the  remnants  of  the  re 
publican  forces,  and  an  efficient  concentra 
tion  of  those  of  Great  Britain,  must  have 
been  the  fruits  of  this  treason,  had  it  been 
successful.  What  might  have  been  the  ef 
fects  upon  the  progress  of  the  war  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  imagine.  The  blow  would  have  been 
disastrous.  The  value  of  the  prize  to  the 
British  induced  them  to  enter  eagerly  into 
negotiation  with  the  traitor,  and  offer  a  mu 
nificent  price  for  the  treachery. 

Arnold  was  brave  and  hardy,  but  dissipated 
and  profligate.  Extravagant  in  his  expenses, 
he  had  involved  himself  in  debts,  and  having 
had,  on  frequent  occasions,  the  administration 
of  considerable  sums  of  the  public  money,  Iris 
accounts  were  so  unsatisfactory,  that  he  was 
liable  to  an  impeachment  on  charges  of  pec 
ulation.  Much  had  been  forgiven  indeed, 


214  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

and  more  would  probaby  have  been  forgiven, 
to  his  valor  and  military  skill.  But  alarmed 
by  the  terrors  of  a  guilty  conscience,  he  de 
termined  to  get  rid  of  pecuniary  responsibility 
by  betraying  his  country  ;  and  accordingly 
entered  into  a  negotiation  with  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  in  which  he  engaged,  when  a  proper 
opportunity  should  present  itself,  to  make 
such  a  disposition  of  his  troops  as  would  en 
able  the  British  to  make  themselves  masters 
of  West  Point. 

The  details  of  this  negotiation  were  con 
ducted  by  Major  Andre,  the  adjutant-general 
of  the  British  army,  with  whom  Arnold  car 
ried  on  a  clandestine  correspondence,  address 
ing  him  under  the  name  of  Anderson,  while 
he  himself  assumed  that  of  Gustavus.  To 
facilitate  their  communications,  the  Vulture 
sloop  of  war  was  moved  near  to  West  Point ; 
and  the  absence  of  Washington  seeming  to 
present  a  fit  opportunity  for  the  final  arrange 
ment  of  their  plans,  on  the  night  of  the  21st 
of  September,  Arnold  sent  a  boat  to  the  Vul 
ture  to  bring  Andre  on  shore. 

That  officer  landed  in  his  uniform  between 
the  posts,  of  the  two  armies,  and  was  met  by 
Arnold,  with  whom  he  held  a  conference 
which  lasted  till  daybreak,  when  it  was  too 
late  for  him  to  return  to  the  vessel.  In  this 
extremity,  unfortunately  for  himself,  he  al 
lowed  Arnold  to  conduct  him  within  one  of 
the  American  posts,  where  he  lay  concealed 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  215 

till  the  next  night.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Vulture,  having  been  incommoded  by  an 
American  battery,  had  moved  lower  down 
the  river,  and  the  boatmen  now  refused  to 
convey  the  stranger  on  board  her. 

Being  cut  off  from  this  way  of  escape,  An 
dre  was  advised  to  make  for  New  York  by 
land ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  he  was  furnished 
with  a  disguise,  and  a  passport  signed  by 
Arnold,  designating  him  as  John  Anderson. 
He  had  advanced  in  safety  near  the  British 
lines,  when  he  was  stopped  by  three  New 
York  militiamen.  Instead  of  showing  his 
pass  to  these  scouts,  he  asked  them  "  where 
they  belonged  to  ?"  and,  on  their  answering 
"  to  below,"  meaning  to  New  York,  with  sin 
gular  want  of  judgment,  he  stated  that  he 
was  a  British  officer,  and  begged  them  to  let 
him  proceed  without  delay. 

The  men,  now  throwing  off  the  mask, 
seized  him ;  and,  notwithstanding  his  offers 
of  a  considerable  bribe  if  they  would  release 
him,  they  proceeded  to  search  him,  and  found 
upon  his  person,  papers  which  gave  fatal  evi 
dence  of  his  own  culpability  and  of  Arnold's 
treachery.  These  papers  were  in  Arnold's 
handwriting,  and  contained  exact  and  de 
tailed  returns  of  the  state  of  the  forces,  ord 
nance,  and  defences  of  West  Point  and  its 
dependencies,  with  the  artillery  orders,  criti 
cal  remarks  on  the  works,  an  estimate  of  the 
number  of  men  that  were  ordinarily  on  duty 


216  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

% 

to  man  them,  and  the  copy  of  a  state  of  mat 
ters  that  had,  on  the  sixth  of  the  month,  been 
laid  before  a  council  of  war  by  the  command- 
er-in-chief. 

When  Andre  was  conducted  by  his  captors 
to  the  quarters  of  the  commander  of  the 
scouting  parties,  still  assuming  the  name  of 
Anderson,  he  requested  permission  to  write 
to  Arnold,  to  inform  him  of  his  detention. 
This  request  was  inconsiderately  granted ; 
and  the  traitor,  being  thus  apprized  of  his 
peril,  instantly  made  his  escape.  At  this  mo 
ment,  Washington  arriving  at  West  Point, 
was  made  acquainted  with  the  whole  affair. 
Having  taken  the  necessary  precautions  for 
the  security  of  his  post,  he  referred  the  case 
of  the  prisoner  to  a  court-martial,  consisting 
of  fourteen  general  officers. 

Before  this  tribunal,  Andre  appeared  with 
steady  composure  of  mind.  He  voluntarily 
confessed  all  the  facts  of  his  case.  Being 
interrogated  by  the  board  with  respect  to  his 
conception  of  his  coming  on  shore  under  the 
sanction  of  a  flag,  he  ingenuously  replied, 
that  "  if  he  had  landed  under  that  protection, 
he  might  have  returned  under  it."  The  court, 
having  taken  all  the  circumstances  of  his 
case  into  consideration,  unanimously  concur 
red  in  opinion,  "  that  he  ought  to  be  considered 
as  a  spy  ;  and  that,  agreeably  to  the  laws 
and  usages  of  nations,  he  ought  to  suffer 
death." 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  217 

Sir  Henry  Clinton,  first  by  amicable  nego 
tiation,  and  afterwards  by  threats,  endeavored 
to  induce  the  American  commander  to  spare 
the  life  of  his  friend  ;  but  Washington  did 
not  think  this  act  of  mercy  compatible  with 
his  duty  to  his  country,  and  Andre  was  ordered 
for  execution.  He  had  petitioned  to  be  al 
lowed  to  die  a  soldier's  death ;  but  this  re 
quest  could  not  be  granted.  Of  this  circum 
stance,  however,  he  was  kept  in  ignorance, 
till  he  saw  the  preparations  for  his  final  ca 
tastrophe,  when  finding  that  the  bitterness  of 
his  destiny  was  not  to  be  alleviated  as  he 
wished,  he  exclaimed,  "It  is  but  a  momen 
tary  pang  I"  and  calmly  submitted  to  his 
fate. 

Soon  after  this  sad  occurrence,  Washing 
ton,  in  writing  to  a  friend,  expressed  himself 
in  the  following  terms  : — "  Andre  has  met  his 
fate,  and  with  that  fortitude  which  was  to  be 
expected  from  an  accomplished  gentleman 
and  a  gallant  officer ;  but  I  am  mistaken  if 
Arnold  is  not  undergoing,  at  this  time,  the 
torments  of  a  mental  hell."  Whatever  might 
be  the  feelings  of  the  traitor,  his  treason  had 
its  reward.  He  was  immediately  appointed 
brigadier-general  in  the  service  of  the  king 
of  Great  Britain  ;  and,  on  his  promotion,  he 
had  the  folly  and  presumption  to  publish  an 
address,  in  which  he  avowed,  that,  being  dis 
satisfied  with  the  alliance  between  the  United 
States  and  France, "  he  had  retained  his  arms 
19 


218  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

and  command  for  an  opportunity  to  surrender 
them  to  Great  Britain." 

This  address  was  exceeded  in  meanness 
and  insolence  by  another,  in  which  he  invited 
his  late  companions  in  arms  to  follow  his  ex 
ample.  The  American  soldiers  read  these 
manifestoes  with  scorn;  and  so  odious  did  the 
character  of  a  traitor,  as  exemplified  in  the 
conduct  of  Arnold,  become  in  their  estimation, 
that  "  desertion  totally  ceased  among  tkem  at 
this  remarkable  period  of  the  war."* 

Circumstances,  however,  took  place  soon 
after  the  discovery  of  Arnold's  treachery, 
which  led  that  renegade  to  entertain  delusive 
hopes  that  the  army  of  Washington  would 
disband  itself.  The  Pennsylvania!!  troops 
now  serving  on  the  Hudson,  had  been  enlisted 
on  the  ambiguous  terms  of  "  serving  three 
years,  or  during  the  continuance  of  the  war." 
As  the  three  years  from  the  date  of  their  en 
rolment  were  expired,  they  claimed  their  dis 
charge,  which  was  refused  by  their  officers, 
who  maintained  that  the  option  of  the  two 
above-mentioned  conditions  rested  with  the 
state. 

Wearied  out  with  privations,  and  indignant 
at  what  they  deemed  an  attempt  to  impose 
upon  them,  the  soldiers  flew  to  arms,  deposed 
their  officers,  and  under  the  guidance  of  others 
whom  they  elected  in  their  place,  they  quitted 

*  Ramsay. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  219 

Morristown  and  marched  to  Princeton.  Here 
they  were  solicited  by  the  most  tempting  of 
fers  on  the  part  of  some  emissaries  sent  to 
them  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  to  put  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  the  British  govern 
ment.  But  they  were  so  far  from  listening 
to  these  overtures,  that  they  arrested  Sir 
Henry's  agents,  and  their  grievances  having 
been  redressed  by  the  interposition  of  a  com 
mittee  of  Congress,  they  returned  to  their  du 
ty,  and  the  British  spies,  having  been  tried 
by  a  board  of  officers,  were  condemned  to 
death  and  executed. 

A  similar  revolt  of  a  small  body  of  the 
Jersey  line  was  quelled  by  the  capital  pun 
ishment  of  two  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  mu 
tineers.  The  distresses  which  were  the  chief 
cause  of  this  misconduct  of  the  American 
soldiery,  were  principally  occasioned  by  the 
depreciation  of  the  continental  currency  ; 
which  evil,  at  this  period,  effected  its  own 
cure,  as  the  depreciated  paper  was  by  com 
mon  consent,  and  without  any  act  of  the  legis 
lature,  put  out  of  use  ;  and  by  a  seasonable 
loan  from  France,  and  by  the  revival  of  trade 
with  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies,  its 
place  was  speedily  supplied  by  hard  money. 

The  principal  cause  of  delusion  on  the  sub 
ject  in  the  mind  of  Arnold  was  the  singular 
fact,  that  Sergeant  Champe,  a  high-minded 
patriot,  was  induced  to  feign  a  desertion  from 
the  army  at  West  Point  to  join  the  British  in 


220  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

New  York,  and  then  to  seize  Arnold  and  de 
liver  him  over  to  Washington  for  merited 
punishment.  No  one  save  Lee,  the  com 
manding  officer  at  the  post,  and  Washington 
was  admitted  into  the  secret ;  and  of  course 
all  others,  Arnold  and  the  patriots,  looked  up 
on  the  affair  as  a  sober  reality. 

The  preliminaries  were  all  adjusted  in  due 
order.  The  hour  named  for  the  desertion, 
eleven  at  night,  arrived.  The  sergeant  re 
turned  to  the  camp,  and  taking  his  cloak,  va 
lise,  and  orderly  book,  drew  his  horse  from  the 
picket,  and  mounting  him,  put  himself  upon 
a  perilous  adventure.  The  alarm  was  speed 
ily  given  ;  and  within  an  hour  or  a  little 
more,  an  organized  party  was  in  full  pursuit 
of  the  supposed  traitor.  The  chase  was  a 
vigorous  one.  At  last,  he  abandoned  his 
horse,  cloak,  and  other  equipments,  and  with 
great  exertions  ran  for  the  river,  into  which 
he  plunged,  and  then  swam  for  the  British 
galleys. 

His  pursuers  fired  on  him,  but  without  ef 
fect  ;  and  he  was  received  on  board  with 
great  exultation.  Forthwith  he  was  convey 
ed  to  New  York,  where  he  was  admitted  to 
the  society  and  confidence  of  Arnold ;  to 
whom,  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  his 
object,  he  made  such  representations,  that 
Arnold  might  have  imagined  the  whole  patriot 
army  was  ready  for  desertion.  Champe  next 
enlisted  in  the  British  service,  carrying  on, 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.     s  221 

however,  at  the  same  time,  a  secret  corres 
pondence  with  the  American  commanding 
officer.  The  plan  was  matured  for  the  res 
toration  of  Arnold.  The  very  night  was  fixed 
on  for  its  consummation,  and  not  a  doubt  ex 
isted  it  would  have  succeeded,  had  not  Arnold, 
on  the  very  day  previous,  been  ordered  to  a 
different  part  of  the  city. 


SECTION  XXXIII. 

CAMPAIGN  OF  1781 DEFEAT  OF  GREENE,  BY  LORD 

CORNWALLIS. 

Though  the  Spaniards  and  the  Dutch  had 
united  with  France  in  hostility  against  Brit 
ain,  she,  with  dauntless  spirit,  everywhere 
made  head  against  her  foreign  enemies  ;  and 
his  majesty's  ministers  were  now,  still  more 
than  ever,  determined,  by  an  extension  of 
combined  measures,  to  reduce  the  North 
American  provinces  to  submission.  The  plan 
of  the  campaign  of  1781,  accordingly,  com 
prehended  active  operations  in  the  stafe.s  of 
New  York,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  Vir 
ginia.  The  invasion  of  the  last-mentioned 
province  was  intrusted  to  Arnold,  who,  taking 
with  him  a  force  of  about  1,600  men,  and  a 
number  of  armed  vessels,  sailed  up  the  Ches 
apeake,  spreading  terror  and  devastation 
wherever  he  came. 


222  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

An  attempt  to  intercept  him  was  made  by 
the  French  fleet,  which  sailed  from  Rhode 
Island  for  that  purpose  ;  but  after  an  indeci 
sive  engagement  with  the  squadron  of  Admi 
ral  Arbuthnot,  off  the  capes  of  Virginia,  was 
obliged  to  return  to  Newport,  leaving  the  in 
vaded  province  open  to  the  incursions  of  the 
British,  who,  making  occasional  advances  in 
to  the  country,  destroyed  an  immense  quantity 
of  public  stores,  and  enriched  themselves  with 
an  extensive  plunder  of  private  property,  at 
the  same  time  burning  all  the  shipping  in  the 
Chesapeake  and  its  tributary  streams,  which 
they  could  not  conveniently  carry  away  as 
prizes. 

The  Carolinas  also  suffered  severely  by  the 
scourge  of  war.  When  Gates  was  superseded 
in  the  command  of  the  American  forces  in 
that  district,  he  was  succeeded  by  General 
Greene,  to  whose  charge  he  transferred  the 
poor  remains  of  his  army,  which  were  col 
lected  at  Charlotte,  in  North  Carolina,  and 
which  amounted  only  to  2,000  men.  These 
troops  were  imperfectly  armed  and  badly 
clothed ;  and  such  was  the  poverty  of  their 
military  chest,  that  they  were  obliged  to  sup 
ply  themselves  with  provisions  by  forced  re 
quisitions  made  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the 
adjacent  country. 

In  these  circumstances,  to  encounter  the 
superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  in  pitched 
battle  would  have  been  madness.  Greene, 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  223 

therefore,  resolved  to  carry  on  the  war  as  a 
partisan  officer,  and  to  avail  himself  of  every 
opportunity  of  harassing  the  British,  in  detail. 
The  first  enterprise  which  he  undertook  in 
prosecution  of  this  system  was  eminently  suc 
cessful.  Understanding  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  district  of  Ninety-six,  who  had  submit 
ted  to  the  royal  authority,  \vere  severely  ha 
rassed  by  the  licensed  acts  of  plunder  com 
mitted  by  the  king's  troops  and  the  loyalists, 
he  sent  General  Morgan  into  that  quarter 
with  a  small  detachment,  which  was,  on  its 
arrival,  speedily  increased  by  the  oppressed 
countrymen,  who  were  burning  for  revenge. 

Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was,  at  this  moment, 
on  the  point  of  invading  North  Carolina,  no 
sooner  heard  of  this  movement,  than  he  sent 
Lieutenant-colonel  Tarleton  with  1,100  men, 
to  drive  Morgan  out  of  the  district.  Tarleton 
was  an  excellent  partisan  officer,  and  had 
gained  great  reputation  by  his  superior  activ 
ity,  and  by  his  success  in  various  rencoun 
ters  with  detached  parties  of  the  republican 
troops. 

This  success,  however,  and  the  superiority 
of  his  numbers  to  those  of  Morgan's  forces, 
caused  him  too  much  to  despise  the  enemy. 
In  pursuance  of  Lord  Cornwallis's  orders,  he 
marched  in  quest  of  his  antagonist,  and,  on 
the  evening  of  the  16th  of  January,  1781,  he 
arrived  at  the  ground  which  General  Morgan, 
had  quitted  but  a  few  hours  before.  At  two 


224  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

o'clock  the  next  morning  he  recommenced  his 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  marching  with  extra 
ordinary  rapidity  through  a  very  difficult 
country,  and  at  daylight  he  discovered  the 
enemy  in  his  front.  From  the  intelligence 
obtained  from  prisoners  who  were  taken  by 
his  scouting  parties,  he  learned  that  Morgan 
awaited  his  attack  at  a  place  called  the  Cow- 
pens,  near  Pacolet  river. 

Here  the  American  commander  had  drawn 
up  his  little  army,  two  thirds  of  which  con 
sisted  of  militia,  in  two  lines,  the  first  of 
"which  was  advanced  about  two  hundred  yards 
before  the  second,  with  orders  to  form  on  the 
right  of  the  second  in  case  the  onset  of  the 
enemy  should  oblige  them  to  retire.  The  rear 
was  closed  by  a  small  body  of  regular  caval 
ry,  and  about  forty-five  mounted  militiamen. 
On  the  sight  of  this  array,  Tarleton  ordered 
his  troops  to  form  in  line.  But  before  this 
arrangement  was  effected,  that  officer,  obey 
ing  the  dictates  of  valor  rather  than  those  of 
prudence,  commenced  the  attack,  heading  his 
squadron  in  person.  The  British  advanced 
with  a  shout,  and  assailed  the  enemy  with  a 
well-directed  discharge  of  musketry.  The 
Americans  reserved  their  fire  till  the  British 
"were  witkin  forty  or  fifty  yards  of  their  ranks, 
and  then  poured  among  them  a  volley  which 
did-  considerable  execution. 

The  British,  however,  undauntedly  pushed 
on  and  swept  the  militia  off  the  field.  They 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  225 

then  assailed  the  second  line,  and  compelled 
it  to  fall  back  on  the  cavalry.  Here  the 
Americans  rallied,  and  renewed  the  fight  with 
desperate  valor :  charging  the  enemy  with 
fixed  bayonets,  they  drove  back  the  advance, 
and  following  up  their  success,  overthrew  the 
masses  of  their  opponents  as  they  presented 
themselves  in  succession,  and  finally  won  a 
complete  and  decisive  victory. 

Tarleton  fled  from  the  bloody  field,  leaving 
his  artillery  and  baggage  in  the  possession  of 
the  enemy.  His  loss  amounted  to  300  killed 
and  wounded,  and  500  prisoners,  while  that 
of  the  Americans  was  only  12  killed  and  60 
wounded.  Immediately  after  the  action,  Gen 
eral  Greene  sent  off  his  prisoners,  under  a 
proper  guard,  in  the  direction  of  Virginia  ; 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  made  the  requisite  ar 
rangements,  he  followed  them  with  his  little 
army. 

On  receiving  intelligence  of  Tarleton's  dis 
aster,  Lord  Cornwallis  hastened  in  pursuit  of 
the  retreating  enemy,  and  forced  his  marches 
with  such  effect,  that  he  reached  the  Catawba 
river  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which 
Morgan  had  crossed  it;  but  here  his  progress 
was  for  a  short  while  impeded,  as  a  heavy 
fall  of  rain  had  rendered  the  stream  impassa 
ble.  When  the  waters  subsided,  he  hurried 
on,  hoping  to  overtake  the  fugitives  before 
they  had  passed  the  Yadkin  ;  but  when  he 
had  arrived  at  the  river,  he  found  to  his  mor- 


226  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

tification  that  they  had  crossed  it,  and  had 
secured  the  craft  and  boats  which  they  had 
used  for  that  purpose  on  the  eastern  bank. 

He  therefore  marched  higher  up  the  stream, 
till  he  found  the  river  fordable.  While  he 
was  employed  in  this  circuitous  movement, 
General  Greene  had  united  his  forces  with 
those  of  Morgan,  at  Guildford  Court-house. 
Still,  however,  the  forces  of  the  American 
commander  were  so  inferior  to  those  of  his 
pursuers,  that,  not  daring  to  risk  an  engage 
ment,  he  hastened  straight  onwards  to  the 
river  Dan  ;  while  Lord  Cornwallis,  travers 
ing  the  upper  country,  where  the  streams  are 
fordable,  proceeded,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
gain  upon  the  enemy,  so  as  to  overtake  them, 
in  consequence  of  their  being  obstructed  in 
their  progress  by  the  deep  water  below.  But 
.so  active  was  Greene,  and  so  fortunate  in 
finding  the  means  of  conveyance,  that  he  . 
crossed  the  Dan  into  Virginia,  with  his  whole 
army,  artillery,  and  baggage.  So  narrow, 
hDwever,  was  his  escape,  that  the  van  of 
Cornwallis's  army  arrived  in  time  to  witness 
the  ferrying  over  of  his  rear. 

Mortified  as  Lord  Cornwallis  was  by  being 
thus  disappointed  of  the  fruits  of  this  toilsome 
march,  he  consoled  himself  by  the  reflection 
that  the  American  army  being  thus  driven 
out  of  North  Carolina,  he  was  master  of  that 
province,  and  was  in  a  condition  to  recruit 
hi?  forces  by  the  accession  of  the  loyalists, 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION".  22T 

with  whom  he  had  been  led  to  believe  that  it 
abounded. 

He  therefore  summoned  all  true  subjects 
of  his  majesty  to  repair  to  the  royal  standard, 
which  he  had  erected  at  Hillsborough.  This 
experiment  had  little  success.  The  friends  of 
government  were  in  general  timid,  and  diffi 
dent  of  his  lordship's  power  ultimately  to  pro 
tect  them.  Their  terrors  were  confirmed, 
when  they  learned  that  the  indefatigable 
Greene  had  recrossed  the  Dan,  and  had  cut 
off  a  body  of  Tories  who  were  on  their  march 
to  join  the  royal  forces,  and  that  he  had  com 
pelled  Tarleton  to  retreat  from  the  frontier 
of  the  province  to  Hillsborough.  For  seven 
days,  the  American  commander  manoeuvred 
within  ten  miles  of  the  British  camp ;  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time,  having  received  rein 
forcements  from  Virginia,  he  resolved  to  give 
Lord  Cornwallis  battle. 

The  engagement  took  place  on  the  15th  of 
March,  at  Guildford.  The  American  army 
consisted  of  4,400  men,  and  the  British  of 
oniy  2,400  ;  but  notwithstanding  this  disparity 
of  numbers,  disciplined  valor  prevailed.  The 
American  militia  gave  way  with  precipita 
tion,  and  though  the  regulars  fought  with 
spirit,  they  were  obliged  to  retreat,  but  only 
to  the  distance  of  three  miles.  Lord  Corn 
wallis  kept  the  field,  but  he  had  suffered  such 
loss  in  the  action,  that  he  was  unable  to  fol 
low  up  his  victory,  and  soon  afterwards 


228  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

marched  towards  Wilmington,  leaving  behind 
him  his  sick  and  wounded.  On  this  march 
he  was  pursued  by  Greene  as  far  as  Deep 
river. 


SECTION  XXXIV. 

CAMPAIGN    OF    1781    CONTINUED DEFEAT    OF    LORD 

RAWDON,    BY    GENERAL    GREENE. 

At  Wilmington,  Lord  Cornwallis  made  a 
halt  for  three  days  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
his  troops  some  rest ;  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time,  resolving  to  carry  the  war  into  Virgi 
nia,  he  marched  to  Petersburgh,  an  inland 
town  of  that  province,  situated  on  James 
river.  Hither  it  was  expected  that  he  would 
have  been  followed  by  the  enemy ;  but  Greene 
being  aware  that  his  lordship  had  by  this 
movement  approached  nearer  to  the  main 
army  of  the  Americans,  and  confident  that 
his  motions  would  be  closely  watched  by  the 
Virginia  militia,  after  mature  consideration 
adopted  the  bold  measure  of  again  penetrating 
into  South  Carolina. 

That  province  was  in  the  military  occupa 
tion  of  the  British,  who  were,  indeed,  harassed 
by  the  partisan  troops  of  Marion  and  Sumpter, 
but  were  in  such  apparent  strength,  that  there 
was  reason  to  fear  that  the  republicans,  if  not 
aided  by  further  support*  would  abandon  the 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

cause  of  their  country  in  despair.  The  Brit 
ish  had  formed  chains  of  posts,  which,  extend 
ing  from  the  sea  to  the  western  extremity  of 
the  province,  maintained  a  mutual  communi 
cation  by  strong  patrols  and  bodies  of  horse. 
The  first  of  these  lines  of  defence  was  estab 
lished  on  the  Wateree,  on  the  banks  of  which 
river  the  British  occupied  the  well-fortified 
town  of  Camden,  and  Fort  Watson,  situated 
between  that  place  and  Charleston. 

The  attack  of  the  fort,  Greene  intrusted  to 
Marion,  who  soon  compelled  its  garrison  to 
surrender  on  capitulation.  In  encountering 
Lard  Rawdon,  near  Camden,  Greene  was  not 
so  fortunate.  In  consequence  of  the  unsteadi 
ness  of  a  few  of  his  troops,  he  was  defeated, 
but  moved  off  the  ground  in  such  good  oder, 
that  he  saved  his  artillery,  and  though  wound 
ed,  he  took  up  a  position,  at  the  distance  of 
about  five  miles  from  Camden,  from  which 
he  sent  out  parties  to  intercept  the  supplies, 
of  which  he  was  apprized  that  his  antagonist 
was  in  the  utmost  need. 

In  consequence  of  the  vigilance  of  Greene, 
in  cutting  off  his  resources,  and  of  the  loss  of 
Fort  Watson,  which  had  been  the  link  of  his 
communication  with  Charleston,  Lord  Raw 
don,  after  having  in  vain  endeavored  to  bring 
on  a  second  general  engagement  with  the 
Americans,  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of 
destroying  a  part  of  his  baggage,  and  retreating 
to  the  south  side  of  the  river  Santee.  This  ret* 
30 


230  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

rograde  movement  encouraged  the  friends  of 
Congress  to  resume  their  arms,  and  hasten  to 
reinforce  the  corps  of  Marion,  who  speedily 
made  himself  master  of  the  British  posts  on 
the  Congaree,  the  garrisons  of  which  were  in 
general  made  prisoners,  while  those  which 
escaped  that  fate  by  a  timely  evacuation  of 
their  positions,  made  good  their  retreat  to  the 
capital  of  the  province. 

Savannah  river  now  presented  the  last  line 
of  defence  held  by  the  British,  who  there  pos 
sessed  the  town  of  Augusta  and  the  post  of 
Ninety-six.  The  former  of  those  places  was 
attacked  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Lee,  and  after 
a  defence  of  unprecedented  obstinacy  on  the 
part  of  its  commander,  Colonel  Brown,  it  sur 
rendered  on  honorable  terms.  The  important 
post  of  Ninety-six,  commanded  by  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Cruger,  was  strongly  fortified,  and  de 
fended  by  500  men. 

On  reconnoitering  the  place,  General  Greene, 
whose  army  was  not  much  more  numerous 
than  the  garrison,  determined  to  besiege  it  in 
form.  He  accordingly  broke  ground  on  the 
25th  of  May,  and  pushed  his  works  with  such 
vigor,  that  he  had  approached  within  six  yards 
of  the  ditch,  and  had  erected  a  mound  thirty 
feet  high,  from  which  his  riflemen  poured  their 
shot  with  fatal  aim  upon  the  opposite  parapet 
of  the  enemy,  who  were  hourly  expected  to 
beat  a  parley.  But  this  bright  prospect  of 
success  was  at  once  overclouded  by  the  arri- 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  231 

val  of  intelligence  that  Lord  Rawdon,  having 
received  reinforcements  from  Ireland,  was 
hastening  to  the  relief  of  his  countrymen,  at 
the  head  of  2,000  men. 

In  this  extremity,  Greene  made  a  desperate 
effort  to  carry  the  place  by  assault,  but  was 
repulsed,  and  evacuating  the  works  which  he 
had  constructed  with  so  much  labor,  he  re 
treated  to  the  northward  across  the  Saluda, 
from  whence  he  was  chased  by  Lord  Rawdon 
beyond  the  Ennoree. 

The  feelings  of  the  American  commander 
on  set-ing  the  fruit  of  his  toils  thus  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly  torn  from  his  grasp,  must 
have  been  of  a  most  agonizing  nature.  But 
Greene  was  gifted  with  an  elasticity  of  spirit 
which  prevented  him  from  yielding  to  the 
pressure  of  misfortune,  and  his  opponents 
seldom  found  him  more  dangerous  than  im 
mediately  after  suffering  a  defeat.  On  the 
present  occasion,  when  some  of  his  counsel 
lors,  in  the  moment  of  despondency,  advised 
him  to  retreat  into  Virginia,  he  firmly  replied, 
that  "  he  would  save  South  Carolina,  or  perish 
in  the  attempt." 

Go  maturely  deliberating  on  the  object  of 
the  campaign,  and  on  the  relative  situation 
of  himself  and  the  enemy,  he  was  well  aware 
that  though  Lord  Rawdon  was  superior  to 
him  in  the  number  as  well  as  the  discipline 
of  his  troops ;  yet,  if  his  lordship  kept  his  ar 
my  concentrated,  he  could  afford  no  encour- 


232  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

agement,  or  even  protection,  to  the  royalists, 
and  that  if  it  were  divided,  it  might  be  beaten 
in  detail.  As  he  expected,  the  British  com 
mander,  finding  that  he  could  not  bring  him 
to  an  engagement,  took  the  latter  course,  and 
withdrawing  a  detachment  from  Ninety-six, 
re-established  himself  on  the  line  of  the  Con- 
garee. 

Within  two  days,  however,  after  his  arrival 
at  the  banks  of  that  river,  he  was  astonished 
to  find  his  indefatigable  enemy  in  his  front, 
with  numbers  so  recruited,  that  he  thought  it 
prudent  to  decline  the  battle  which  was  offer 
ed  him,  and  retreated  to  Orangeburgh,  where 
he  was  joined  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Cruger, 
who,  in  the  present  circumstances,  had  thought 
it  expedient  to  evacuate  his  post  at  Ninety- 
six.  On  the  junction  of  the  forces  of  these 
two  commanders,  Greene  retired  to  the  heights 
above  Santee,  from  whence  he  sent  his  active 
coadjutors,  Marion  and  Sumpter,  with  strong 
scouting  parties,  to  interrupt  the  commu 
nication  between  Orangeburgh  and  Charles 
ton. 

As  a  last  effort  to  maintain  their  influence 
in  the  centre  of  the  province,  the  British  took 
post  in  force  near  the  confluence  of  the  Wa- 
teree  and  the  Congaree  ;  but  on  the  approach 
of  Greene,  they  retreated  for  the  space  of 
forty  miles,  and  waited  his  threatened  attack 
at  the  Eutaw  Springs.  Here  an  obstinate 
^engagement  took  place,  in  which  the  British 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  233 

were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  1,100  men, 
and  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  province 
to  the  republicans,  and  take  shelter  in  Charles 
ton. 

Of  all  the  incidents  of  the  American  revo 
lutionary  war,  the  most  brilliant  is  this  cam 
paign  of  General  Greene.  At  the  head  of  a 
beaten  army,  undisciplined,  and  badly  equip 
ped,  he  entered  the  province  of  South  Caro 
lina,  which  was  occupied,  from  its  eastern  to 
its  western  extremity,  by  an  enemy  much  su 
perior  to  him  in  numbers,  in  appointments, 
and  in  military  experience.  But  by  his  genius, 
his  courage,  and  his  perseverance,  he  broke 
through  their  lines  of  operation,  drove  them 
from  post  to  post,  and  though  defeated  in  the 
field,  he  did  not  cease  to  harass  them  in  de 
tail,  till  he  had  driven  them  within  the  fortifi 
cations  of  the  capital.  Well  did  he  merit  the 
gold  medal  and  the  British  standard  bestowed 
upon  him  by  a  vote  of  Congress,  for  his  ser 
vices  on  this  occasion.  By  his  successes  he 
revived  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  friends  of 
independence  in  the  southern  states,  and  pre 
pared  the  way  for  the  final  victories  which 
awaited  the  arms  of  his  country  in  Virginia, 
and  which  led  to  the  happy  termination  of 
the  war. 

While  the  American  commander  was  en 
joying  the  honors  bestowed  upon  him  by  his 
grateful  countrymen,  as  the  just  meed  of  his 
valor  and  skill  in  arms,  Lord  Rawdon,  soon 
20 


234  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

after  his  return  to  Charleston,  by  an  example 
of  severity,  brought  odium  on  the  British 
cause,  and  fired  the  breasts  of  the  continen 
tals  with  indignation.  Among  the  American 
officers,  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
defence  of  South  Carolina,  was  Col.  Haynes, 
a  gentleman  of  fortune,  and  of  considerable 
influence  in  his  neighborhood. 

After  the  capitulation  of  Charleston,  Haynes 
voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to  the  British 
authorities,  requesting  to  be  allowed  his  per 
sonal  liberty  on  his  parole.  This  indulgence, 
usually  granted  to  officers  of  rank,  he  could 
not  obtain  ;  and  was  told  that  he  must  either 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  his  Britannic 
majesty,  or  submit  to  close  confinement.  In 
an  evil  hour,  induced  by  family  considera 
tions,  he  chose  the  former  alternative,  and 
signed  a  declaration  of  fealty  to  George  III., 
protesting,  however,  against  the  clause  which 
required  him  to  support  the  royal  government 
with  arms  ;  which  clause,  the  officer  who  re 
ceived  his  submission  assured  him  it  was  not 
intended  to  enforce.  The  officer  in  question, 
no  doubt  in  this  assurance  exceeded  his  au 
thority,  and  Haynes  was  time  after  time  sum 
moned  to  join  the  royal  standard. 

Regarding  this  as  a  breach  of  the  contract 
into  which  he  had  entered  with  the  British,  he 
again  took  up  arms  on  the  side  of  indepen 
dence,  and  having  been  taken  prisoner  in  a 
skirmish  with  part  of  the  royal  forces,  he 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  235 

was,  without  the  formality  of  a  trial,  ordered 
for  execution  by  Lord  Rawdon.  To  the  peti 
tions  of  this  unfortunate  officer's  children,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Charles 
ton,  his  lordship  turned  a  deaf  ear,  and  Haynes 
suffered  death  as  a  rebel  and  a  traitor. 
Though  the  death  of  this  gallant  soldier  may 
be  vindicated  by  the  strictness  of  the  law,  its 
policy  was,  in  the  existing  circumstances,  ex 
tremely  questionable. 


SECTION  XXXV. 

FURTHER  EVENTS  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN PREPARATIONS 

FOR  THE  SIEGE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

It  has  already  been  related  that,  after  de 
feating  General  Greene  at  Guildford,  Lord 
Cornwallis  marched  to  Petersburgh,  in  Vir 
ginia.  His  lordship  did  not  take  this  step 
without  hesitation.  He  well  knew  the  enter 
prising  character  of  his  opponent,  and  was 
aware  of  the  probability  of  his  making  an 
incursion  into  South  Carolina.  He  flattered 
himself,  however,  that  the  forces  which  he 
had  left  in  that  province,  under  the  command 
of  Lord  Rawdon,  would  suffice  to  keep  the 
enemy  in  check.  In  this  idea  he  was  con 
firmed  by  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Camden, 
and  by  the  receipt  of  intelligence  that  three 


-236  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

British  regiments,  which  had  sailed  from  Cork, 
might  be  expected  speedily  to  arrive  at 
Charleston. 

No  longer  anxious,  therefore,  for  the  fate 
of  South  Carolina,  he  determined  to  march 
forward,  in  the  confident  hope  of  increasing 
his  military  renown  by  the  conquest  of  Vir 
ginia.  He  accordingly  advanced  with  rapid 
ity  from  Petersburgh  to  Manchester,  on  James 
river,  with  a  view  of  crossing  over  from  that 
place  to  Richmond,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing 
a  large  quantity  of  stores  and  provisions, 
which  had  been  deposited  there  by  the  Ameri 
cans.  But  on  his  arrival  at  Manchester,  he 
had  the  mortification  to  find  that,  on  the  day 
before,  this  depot  had  been  removed  by  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette,  who,  at  the  command 
of  Congress,  had  hastened  from  the  head  of 
Elk  to  oppose  him. 

Having  crossed  James  river,  at  Westown, 
his  lordship  marched  through  Hanover  coun 
ty  to  the  South  Anna  river,  followed  at  a 
guarded  distance  by  the  marquis,  who,  in  this 
critical  contingency,  finding  his  forces  inferior 
to  those  of  the  cciemy,  wisely  restrained  the 
vivacity  which  is  the  usual  characteristic  of 
his  age  and  country.  But  having  effected  a 
junction  with  General  Wayne,  which  brought 
his  numbers  nearly  to  an  equality  with  those 
of  the  British,  and  having  once  more,  by  a 
skilful  manoeuvre,  saved  his  stores,  which  had 
been  removed  to  Albemarle  old  court-house, 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  237 

he  displayed  so  bold  a  front,  that  the  British 
commander  fell  back  to  Richmond,  and  thence 
to  Williamsburg. 

On  his  arrival  at  the  latter  place,  Lord 
Cornwallis  received  dispatches  from  Sir  Hen 
ry  Clinton,  requiring  him  instantly  to  send 
from  his  army  a  detachment  to  the  relief  of 
New  York,  which  was  threatened  with  a 
combined  attack  by  the  French  and  the 
Americans.  The  consequent  diminution  of 
his  force  induced  his  lordship  to  cross  James 
river,  and  to  march  in  the  direction  of  Ports 
mouth.  Before,  however,  the  reinforcements 
destined  for  New  York  had  sailed,  he  received 
counter-orders  and  instructions  from  Sir  Hen 
ry  Clinton,  in  pursuance  of  which  he  convey 
ed  his  army,  amounting  to  7,000  men,  to  York- 
town,  which  place  he  proceeded  to  fortify  with 
the  utmost  skill  and  industry. 

The  object  of  Lord  Cornwallis  in  thus  post 
ing  himself  at  Yorktown,  was  to  co-operate 
in  the  subjugation  of  Virginia  with  a  fleet 
which  he  was  led  to  expect  would  about  this 
time  proceed  from  the  West  Indies  to  the 
Chesapeake.  While  his  lordship  was  anx 
iously  looking  out  for  the  British  pennants,  he 
had  the  mortification,  on  the  30th  of  August, 
to  see  the  Count  de  Grasse  sailing  up  the  bay 
with  twenty-eight  sail  of  the  line,  three  of 
which,  accompanied  by  a  proper  number  of 
frigates,  were  immediately  dispatched  to  block 
up  York  river. 


238  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

The  French  vessels  had  no  sooner  anchor 
ed,  than  they  landed  a  force  of  3,200  men, 
who,  under  the  command  of  the  Marquis  de 
St.  Simon,  effected  a  junction  with  the  army 
of  Lafayette,  and  took  post  at  Williamsburg. 
Soon  after  this  operation,  the  hopes  of  the 
British  were  revived  by  the  appearance  off 
the  Capes  of  Virginia,  of  Admiral  Graves, 
with  twenty  sail  of  the  line — a  force  which 
seemed  to  be  competent  to  extricate  Lord 
Cornwallis  from  his  difficult  position. 

These  hopes,  however,  proved  delusive. 
On  the  7th  of  September,  M.  de  Grasse  en 
countered  the  British  fleet,  and  a  distant  fight 
took  place,  in  which  the  French  seemed  to 
rely  more  on  their  manoeuvring  than  on  their 
valor.  The  reason  of  this  was  soon  apparent. 
In  the  course  of  the  night  which  followed  the 
action,  a  squadron  of  eight  line-of-battle  ships 
safely  passed  the  British,  and  joined  De  Grasse, 
in  consequence  of  which  accession  of  strength 
to  the  enemy,  Admiral  Graves  thought  it  pru 
dent  to  quit  that  part  of  the  coast,  and  retire 
to  New  York.  This  impediment  to  their  op 
erations  having  been  removed,  the  Americans 
and  French  directed  the  whole  of  their  united 
efforts  to  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

This  had  not,  however,  been  the  original 
design  of  General  Washington  at  the  com 
mencement  of  the  campaign.  Early  in  the 
spring  he  had  agreed  with  Count  Rocham- 
beau  to  lay  siege  to  New  York,  in  concert 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  239 

with  a  French  fleet  which  was  expected  to 
reach  the  neighborhood  of  Staten  Island  in 
the  month  of  August.  He  had  accordingly 
issued  orders  for  considerable  reinforcements, 
especially  of  militia,  to  join  his  army  in  proper 
time  to  commence  the  projected  operations. 

The  French  troops  under  Rochambeau 
having  arrived  punctually  at  his  encampment 
near  Peekskill,  General  Washington  advanced 
to  King's  bridge,  and  hemmed  in  the  British 
in  New  York  island.  Every  preparation 
seemed  to  be  now  in  forwardness  for  the 
commencement  of  the  siege ;  but  the  militia 
came  in  tardily.  The  adjacent  states  were 
dilatory  in  sending  in  their  quotas  of  troops ; 
and  while  he  was  impatiently  awaiting  their 
arrival,  Washington  had  the  mortification  to 
receive  intelligence  that  Clinton  had  received 
a  reinforcement  of  3,000  Germans. 

While  his  mind  was  agitated  by  disappoint 
ment,  and  chagrined  by  that  want  of  zeal  on 
the  part  of  the  middle  states  which  he  ap 
prehended  could  not  but  bring  discredit  on 
his  country,  in  the  estimation  of  his  allies,  he 
was  relieved  from  his  distress  by  the  news  of 
the  success  of  Greene  in  driving  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  into  Yorktown  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
learning  that  the  destination  of  Count  de 
Grasse  was  the  Chesapeake,  and  not  Staten 
Island,  he  resolved  to  transfer  his  operations 
to  the  state  of  Virginia. 

Still,  however,  he  kept  up  an  appearance 


240  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

of  persevering  in  his  original  intention  of 
making  an  attack  upon  New  York,  and  in 
this  feint  he  was  aided  by  the  circumstance, 
that  when  this  was  in  reality  his  design,  a 
letter,  in  which  he  had  detailed  his  plans  for 
its  prosecution,  had  been  intercepted,  and 
read  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  When,  therefore, 
in  the  latter  end  of  August,  he  broke  up  his 
encampment  at  Peekskill,  and  directed  his 
march  to  the  south,  the  British  commander, 
imagining  that  this  movement  was  only  a 
stratagem  calculated  to  throw  him  off  his 
guard,  and  that  the  enemy  would  speedily  re 
turn  to  take  advantage  of  his  expected  neg 
ligence,  remained  in  his  quarters,  and  re 
doubled  his  exertions  to  strengthen  his  position. 
In  consequence  of  this  error,  he  lost  the 
opportunity  of  impeding  the  march  of  the 
allied  army,  and  of  availing  himself  of  the 
occasions  which  might  have  presented  them 
selves  of  bringing  it  to  action  before  it  could 
effect  a  junction  with  the  troops  already  as 
sembled  in  the  vicinity  of  Yorktown.  Thus 
marching  onwards  without  molestation,  Gen 
eral  Washington  reached  Williamsburg  on 
the  14th  of  September,  and  immediately  on 
his  arrival,  visiting  the  Count  de  Grasse  on 
board  his  flag-ship,  the  Ville  de  Paris,  settled 
with  him  the  plan  of  their  future  operations. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  241 


SECTION  XXXVI. 

SIEGE    OF    YORKTOWN, SURRENDER   OF  LORD  CORN- 

WALLIS. 

In  pursuance  of  this  arrangement,  the  com 
bined  forces,  to  the  amount  of  12,000  men, 
assembled  at  Williamsburg  on  the  25th  of 
September ;  and  on  the  30th  of  the  same 
month  marched  forward  to  invest  Yorktown, 
while  the  French  fleet,  moving  to  the  mouth 
of  York  river,  cut  off  Lord  Cornwallis  from 
any  communication  with  a  friendly  force  by 
water.  His  lordship's  garrison  amounted  to 
7,000  men,  and  the  place  was  strongly  forti 
fied.  On  the  right  it  was  secured  by  a  marshy 
ravine,  extending  to  such  a  distance  along 
the  front  of  the  defences  as  to  leave  them  ac 
cessible  only  to  the  extent  of  about  1,500 
yards. 

This  space  was  defended  by  strong  lines, 
beyond  which,  on  the  extreme  left,  were  ad 
vanced  a  redoubt  and  a  bastion,  which  enfi 
laded  their  approach  to  Gloucester  Point,  on 
the  other  side  of  York  river,  the  channel  of 
which  is  here  narrowed  to  the  breadth  of  a 
mile,  which  post  was  also  sufficiently  gar 
risoned,  and  strongly  fortified.  Thus  secured 
in  his  position,  Lord  Cornwallis  beheld  the 
approach  of  the  enemy  with  firmness,  espe 
cially  as  he  had  received  dispatches  from  Sir 


242  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

Henry  Clinton,  announcing  his  intention  of 
sending  5,000  men  in  a  fleet  of  23  ships  of  the 
line  to  his  relief. 

The  allied  forces  on  their  arrival  from 
Williamsburg  immediately  commenced  the 
investure  both  of  Yorktown  and  of  Glouces 
ter  Point ;  and  on  the  10th  of  October  they 
opened  their  batteries  with  such  effect,  that 
their  shells,  flying  over  the  town,  reached  the 
shipping  in  the  harbor,  and  set  fire  to  the 
Charon  frigate,  and  to  a  transport.  On  this 
inauspicious  day,  too,  Lord  Cornwallis  re 
ceived  a  communication  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  conveying  to  him  the  unwelcome  in 
telligence  that  he  doubted  whether  it  would 
be  in  his  power  to  send  him  the  aid  which  he 
had  promised. 

On  the  following  morning  the  enemy  com 
menced  their  second  parallel,  and  finding 
themselves,  in  this  advanced  position,  severe 
ly  annoyed  by  the  bastion  and  redoubt  which 
have  been  mentioned  above,  they  resolved  to 
storm  them.  The  reduction  of  the  former  of 
these  works  was  committed  to  the  French, 
while  the  attack  of  the  latter  was  intrusted 
to  the  Americans.  Both  parties  rushing  to 
the  assault  with  the  spirit  of  emulation  which 
this  arrangement  was  calculated  to  inspire, 
the  works  in  question  were  speedily  carried 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

It  must  be  mentioned  to  the  honor  of  the 
American  soldiers,  that  though  in  revenge  for 


AMERICAN   REVOLUTION.  243 

-a  massacre  recently  committed  at  New  Lon 
don,  in  Connecticut,  by  a  body  of  troops  un 
der  the  command  of  the  renegade  Arnold, 
they  had  been  ordered  to  take  no  prisoners, 
they  forebore  to  comply  with  this  requisition, 
and  when  they  had  penetrated  into  the  re 
doubt,  spared  every  man  who  ceased  to  resist. 
On  the  16th  of  October,  a  sally  was  made 
from  the  garrison,  but  with  indifferent  suc 
cess  ;  and  Lord  Cornwallis  was  now  convin 
ced  that  he  could  avoid  surrender,  only  by  ef 
fecting  his  escape  by  Gloucester  Point. 

Seeing  himself,  therefore,  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  trying  this  desperate  expedient, 
he  prepared  as  many  boats  as  he  could  pro 
cure,  and  on  the  night  of  the  16th  of  October 
attempted  to  convey  his  army  over  York 
river  to  the  opposite  promontory.  But  the 
elements  were  adverse  to  his  .operations. 
The  first  division  of  his  troops  was  disem 
barked  in  safety  ;  but  when  the  second  was 
on  its  passage,  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain  arose, 
and  drove  it  down  the  river. 

Though  this  second  embarkation  worked 
Its  way  back  to  Yorktown  on  the  morning  of 
the  17th,  Lord  Cornwallis  was  convinced, 
however  unwillingly,  that  protracted  resist 
ance  was  vain.  No  aid  appeared  from  New 
York — his  works  were  ruined — the  fire  from 
.the  enemy's  batteries  swept  the  town  ;  and 
sickness  had  diminished  the  effective  force  of 
the  garrison.  In  these  painful  circumstances, 


244  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  negotiate 
terms  of  capitulation.  He  accordingly  sent 
a  flag  of  truce,  and  having  agreed  to  give  up 
his  troops  as  prisoners  of  war  to  Congress, 
and  the  naval  force  to  France,  he,  on  the  19th 
of  October,  marched  out  of  his  lines  with 
folded  colors ;  and  proceeding  to  a  field  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  town,  he  surrendered 
to  General  Lincoln,  with  the  same  formalities 
which  had  been  prescribed  to  that  officer  at 
Charleston,  eighteen  months  before. 

Another  coincidence  was  remarked  on  this 
occasion.  The  capitulation  under  which  Lord 
Cornwallis  surrendered  was  drawn  up  by 
Lieutenant-colonel  Laurens,  whose  father  had 
filled  the  office  of  President  of  Congress,  and 
having  been  taken  prisoner  when  on  his  voy 
age  to  Holland,  in  quality  of  ambassador  from 
the  United  States  to  the  Dutch  republic,  had 
been  consigned,  under  a  charge  of  high  trea 
son,  to  a  rigorous  custody  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  of  which  fortress  his  lordship  was 
constable. 

Had  Lord  Cornwallis  been  able  to  hold  out 
five  days  longer  than  he  did,  he  might  possi 
bly  have  been  relieved  ;  for,  on  the  ^4th  of 
October,  a  British  fleet,  conveying  an  army 
of  7,000  men,  arrived  off  the  Chesapeake ; 
but  finding  that  his  lordship  had  already  sur 
rendered,  this  armament  returned  to  New 
York  and  Sandy  Hook. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  245 


SECTION  XXXVII. 

PROVISIONAL    TREATY    OF    PEACE,    30TII    OF    NOVEM 
BER,    1782. 

It  was  with  reason  that  the  Congress  passed 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  captors  of  Yorktown, 
and  that  they  went  in  procession,  on  the  24th 
of  October,  to  celebrate  the  triumph  of  their 
arms,  by  expressing,  in  the  solemnities  of  a 
religious  service,  their  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  for  this  signal  success.  The  surrender 
of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  the  virtual  termina 
tion  of  the  war.  From  this  time  forward,  to 
the  signature  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  the  Brit 
ish  were  cooped  up  in  New  York,  Charleston, 
and  Savannah.  From  these  posts  they  now 
and  then,  indeed,  made  excursions  for  the 
purpose  of  foraging  and  plunder ;  but  being 
utterly  unable  to  appear  in  force  in  the  inte 
rior  of  the  country,  they  found  themselves  in 
competent  to  carry  on  any  operations  calcu 
lated  to  promote  the  main  object  of  the  war — 
the  subjugation  of  the  United  States. 

Perseverance,  however,  still  seemed  a  vir 
tue  to  the  British  cabinet.  Immediately  after 
the  arrival  of  the  intelligence  of  the  capture 
by  the  Americans  of  a  second  British  army, 
George  III.  declared,  in  a  speech  to  parlia 
ment,  "  that  he  should  not  answer  the  trust 
committed  to  the  sovereign  of  a  free  people, 
21* 


246  AMERICAN    REVOLUTION. 

if  he  consented  to  sacrifice,  either  to  his  own 
desire  of  peace,  or  to  their  temporary  ease 
and  relief,  those  essential  rights  and  perma 
nent  interests,  upon  the  maintenance  and 
preservation  of  which  the  future  strength  and 
security  of  the  country  must  forever  depend." 

When  called  upon  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons  for  an  explanation  of  this  vague  and 
assuming  language,  Lord  North  avowed  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  ministers  to  carry  on 
in  North  America  "  a  war  of  posts  ;"  and  such 
was,  at  that  moment,*  the  state  of  the  house, 
that,  in  despite  of  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Fox, 
who  labored  to  demonstrate  the  absurdity  of 
this  new  plan,  a  majority  of  218  to  129  con 
curred  in  an  address  which  was  an  echo  of 
his  majesty's  speech. 

But  the  loud  murmurs  of  the  people,  groan 
ing  beneath  the  weight  of  taxation,  and  indig 
nant  under  a  sense  of  national  misrule,  at 
length  penetrated  the  walls  of  the  senate- 
house.  Early  in  the  year  1782,  motion  after 
motion  was  made  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
expressive  of  the  general  wish  for  the  termi 
nation  of  hostilities  with  the  United  States. 
The  minister  held  out  with  obstinacy,  though 
on  each  renewal  of  the  debate,  he  saw  his 
majority  diminish ;  till  at  length,  on  the  27th 
of  February,  on  a  motion  of  General  Con  way, 
expressly  directed  against  the  further  prose- 

*  Nov.  27,  1781. 


AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  247 

cution  of  offensive  war  on  the  continent  of 
North  America,  he  was  left  in  a  minority  of 
nineteen. 

This  victory  was  followed  up  by  an  address 
from  the  house  to  his  majesty,  according  to 
the  tenor  of  General  Con  way's  motion.  To 
this  address,  so  equivocal  an  answer  was  re 
turned  by  the  crown,  that  the  friends  of  paci 
fication  deemed  it  necessary  to  speak  in  still 
plainer  terms ;  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  the 
House  of  Commons  declared  that  whosoever 
should  advise  his  majesty  to  any  further  pro 
secution  of  offensive  war  against  the  colonies 
of  North  America,  should  be  considered  as  a 
public  enemy. 

This  was  the  death-blow  to  Lord  North's 
administration.  His  lordship  retired  from 
office  early  in  the  month  of  March,  and  was 
.succeeded  by  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham, 
the  efforts  of  whose  ministry  were  as  much 
and  as  cordially  directed  to  peace  as  those  of 
Lord  Shelburne's.  On  the  death  of  the  mar 
quis,  which  took  place  soon  after  he  had  as 
sumed  the  reins  of  government,  the  Earl  of 
Shelburne  was  called  on  to  preside  over  his 
majesty's  councils,  which,  under  his  auspices, 
were  directed  to  the  great  object  of  pacifica 
tion.  To  this  all  the  parties  interested  were 
well  inclined.  The  English  nation  was  weary 
of  a  civil  war  in  which  it  had  sustained  so 
many  discomfitures.  The  king  of  France, 
who  had  reluctantly  consented  to  aid  the  in- 


248  AMERICAN   REVOLUTION. 

fant  republic  of  North  America,  was  mortified 
by  the  destruction  of  the  fleet  of  De  Grasse,  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  found  the  expenses  of 
the  war  press  heavily  on  his  finances.  The 
Spaniards  were  disheartened  by  the  failure 
of  their  efforts  to  repossess  themselves  of  Gib 
raltar  ;  and  the  Dutch  were  impatient  under 
the  suspension  of  their  commerce. 

Such  being  the  feelings  of  the  belligerents, 
the  negotiations  for  a  peace  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  were  opened 
at  Paris,  by  Mr.  Fitzherbert  and  Mr.  Oswald 
on  the  part  of  the  former  power,  and  by  John 
Adams,  Doctor  Franklin,  John  Jay,  and  Henry 
Laurens,  on  behalf  of  the  latter.  These  ne 
gotiations  terminated  in  provisional  articles 
of  peace,  which  were  signed  on  the  30th  of 
November,  1782.  By  this  important  instru 
ment,  the  independence  of  the  thirteen  prov 
inces  was  unreservedly  acknowledged  by  his 
Britannic  majesty,  who  moreover  conceded  to 
them  an  unlimited  right  of  fishing  on  the 
Banks  of  Newfoundland  and  the  river  St. 
Lawrence,  and  all  other  places  where  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  fish.  All  that  the 
British  plenipotentiaries  could  obtain  for  the 
American  loyalists  was,  a  provision  that  Con 
gress  should  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  respective  states  the  most 
lenient  consideration  of  their  case,  and  a  res 
titution  of  their  confiscated  property. 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  249 


SECTION  XXXVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus  terminated  the  American  revolution 
ary  war — a  war  which  might  have  been  pre 
vented  by  the  timely  concession  of  freedom 
from  internal  taxation,  as  imposed  by  the 
British  parliament,  and  by  an  abstinence  on 
the  part  of  the  British  government  from  a 
violation  in  this  important  particular  of  char 
tered  rights.  The  confidential  letters  of  Dr. 
Franklin  evince  that  it  was  with  extreme  re 
luctance  the  American  patriots  adopted  the 
measure  of  severing  the  colonies  from  the 
mother  country.  But  when  they  had  taken 
this  decisive  step,  by  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  they  firmly  resolved  to  abide  by 
the  consequences  of  their  own  act ;  and,  with 
the  single  exception  of  Georgia,  never,  even 
in  the  most  distressful  contingencies  of  the 
war,  did  any  public  body  of  the  provinces 
show  any  disposition  to  resume  their  allegi 
ance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain. 

Still,  it  may  be  a  matter  of  doubt  if,  when  we 
consider  the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Jerseys,  when  Washington  was  flying  before 
General  Howe,  whether,  had  the  British  officers 
restrained  their  troops  with  the  strictness  of 
discipline,  and  exercised  towards  the  Ameri 
cans  the  kind  spirit  evinced  in  Canada  by 


250  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

Sir  Guy  Carleton,  the  fervor  oi  resistance 
might  not  have  been  abated  and  subdued. 
But  civil  wars  are  always  conducted  with 
cruelty  and  rancor.  The  Americans  were 
treated  by  the  British  soldiery,  not  as  enemies 
entitled  to  the  courtesies  of  war,  but  as  rebels, 
whose  lives  and  property  lay  at  the  mercy  of 
the  victors.  Hence  devastation  marked  the 
track  of  the  invading  forces,  while  the  inhab 
itants  found  their  truest  safety  in  resistance, 
and  their  best  shelter  in  the  republican  camp. 

Nor  will  he  -who  reads  with  attention  the 
minute  details  of  this  eventful  contest,  be  sur 
prised  that  the  British  ministry  persevered  in 
the  war  when  success  might  have  appeared 
to  be  hopeless.  It  is  now  well  known  that 
George  III.  revolted  from  the  idea  of  conces 
sion  to  his  disobedient  subjects,  and  was  de 
termined  to  put  all  to  the  hazard  rather  than 
acknowledge  their  independence.  Lord  North, 
at  an  early  period  of  the  war,  had  misgivings 
as  to  its  ultimate  success,  but  he  had  not  firm 
ness  enough  to  give  his  sovereign  unwelcome 
advice  ;  while  Lord  George  Germaine  and  the 
other  ministers  fully  sympathized  with  the 
royal  feelings,  and  entered  heartily  into  the 
views  of  their  master. 

They  were  apprised,  from  time  to  time,  of 
the  destitute  condition  of  the  American  army, 
but  living  as  they  did  in  luxury,  and  familiar 
ized  as  they  were  with  the  selfishness  and 
venality  of  courts  and  political  parties,  they 


AMERICAN    REVOLUTION.  251 

could  not  conceive  the  idea  of  men  sacrificing 
health,  property,  and  life,  for  their  country's 
good.  When  Washington  was  beaten  in  the 
field,  such  men  imagined  that  the  affairs  of 
the  Congress  were  desperate,  and  flattered 
themselves  that  the  great  body  of  the  colonists, 
wearied  and  disheartened  by  successive  de 
feats,  would  be  glad  to  accept  the  royal  mer 
cy,  and  to  return  to  their  allegiance. 

In  these  notions  they  were  confirmed  by  the 
loyalists,  who,  giving  utterance  to  their  wishes, 
rather  than  stating  the  truth,  afforded  the 
most  incorrect  representations  of  the  feelings 
and  temper  of  their  countrymen.  Some  of 
these  coming  over  to  England  were  received 
with  favor  in  high  circles,  and  by  their  insin 
uations  kept  up  to  the  last  a  fatal  delusion. 
These  individuals  at  length  fell  the  victims  of 
their  own  error.  Traitors  to  their  country, 
they  lost  their  property  by  acts  of  confiscation, 
and  while  they  lived  on  the  bounty  of  the 
British  crown,  they  had  the  mortification  to 
see  the  country  which  they  had  deserted,  rise 
to  an  exalted  rank  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

It  must  also  be  admitted  that  the  people  of 
England  sympathized  with  their  government 
up  to  a  late  period,  in  the  feelings  which 
prompted  perseverance  in  this  iniquitous  war. 
Excessive  loyalty  to  the  crown  ;  a  certain 
undefined  appetite  for  military  achievements ; 
resentment  against  the  Americans  for  ques- 


252  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 

tioning  British  supremacy,  strongly  impressed 
the  public  mind,  and  rendered  the  war  dis 
gracefully  popular  in  many  quarters.  Such 
sentiments  were  fostered  and  encouraged  by 
the  accession  of  France,  Spain,  and  Holland 
to  the  cause  of  her  revolted  states,  and  the 
prospect  of  naval  victories.  We  may  reason 
ably  indulge  the  hope  that  the  lesson  then, 
.and  during  the  French  revolutionary  war, 
taught  by  experience,  and  the  subsequent 
improvement  of  the  public  mind,  will  prevent 
it  from  ever  again  joining  its  government  in 
such  a  conspiracy  against  freedom  and  justice. 
When  the  ministers  of  the  king  of  France 
incited  their  master  to  enter  into  an  alliance 
with  the  revolted  colonies,  they  did  so  under 
the  idea  that  the  separation  of  those  provin 
ces  from  the  parent  state  would  ruin  the  re 
sources  of  Great  Britain.  Events  have  proved 
how  erroneous  was  their  calculation.  From 
her  commercial  intercourse  with  independent 
America,  Great  Britain  has  derived  more 
profit  than  she  could  have  gained  had  her 
growth  been  stunted  by  the  operation  of  re 
strictive  laws. 


THE    END. 


WWOSO 


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